Maybe Tomorrow
by 100-series
Summary: A story comes to a close, but the journey is far from over. [XS3 Spoilers COMPLETE!]
1. Proposal

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything from Xenosaga. This story is for personal enjoyment.  
**Warning:** This story contains spoilers for Xenosaga III. If you have not played the entire game and you don't want to know what happens, please don't read any further.   
**Description:** This is a sequel, or maybe more like an epilogue story, and it will involve all the characters that I can work into it. The story is told from the perspectives of MOMO and Jr. in alternating chapters. Pairings will include: Shion/Allen, Jr./MOMO, Ziggy/Juli, Miyuki/Togashi, and maybe some others. Please enjoy!

** hr **

**Proposal**

It had been a year since that day.

You were the first friends I had ever made, and looking back on it; I have not made another friend since that time who I love nearly as much as I loved all of you. For while, I pined to be with you. I wished that I had gone with you so badly. But I have too many connections here. A family. I had to wait and trust you to handle everything without me. To keep an unspoken promise. I knew that you would, but...

But then I began to think. People get to the center of a problem faster when they work from two ends, isn't that right? I began to realize that. I began to realize that even though you were far away, I was still supporting you like always.

_If I can build it, I can bring them home._ That's what I thought.

That's what I understood. I began to work with Scientia on a network which would replace the UMN. I would connect the worlds, even that world you disappeared to. That's the duty that you entrusted to me.

I worked ceaselessly to help create the new network, but there were so many problems. It took me an entire year just to formulate the basic plan for development. That was just the first step, but I had it. A plan. A year after you left, I sat in front of a screen where I had written what I might say if I were to make the argument. I'm not sure if I was able to convince even myself.

The plan was to create a network that could operate the UMN. Since the UMN itself is ever-present, we simply had to build a machine that could use it for travel and the transmission of information. The main problem laid within that concept. People could simply not believe the truth. The story, it was written about in hundreds of books. The universe didn't lack writers at all. They spread false information about the incident, and rendered the facts as fiction. Eternal Recurrence, souls revived temporarily through the UMN; though these things explained so much, people were still unable to believe. I didn't want to make them.

I had proposed the development of a system that would use the Unus Mundus to jump directly to specific coordinates without gates and columns being set up. That was unheard of, but only because Vector-Wilhelm-had wanted it that way. I would have to ask them all to find the answer with themselves. If a gate must be present to jump, then how were the gates placed? Why were no records of the UMN's development kept? The truth was, the columns did not exist as the only method of using the UMN. It was a system Vector developed to control the people who used the UMN, and how they used it. It would have to be taken on faith.

I cheered myself up. I laughed and thought maybe the idea of no transfer fees might grab a few people at least. I thought of Captain Matthews.

But then, even if the plan was a success, there were so many dangers in the process of exploration and reconnecting the universe. We still know the coordinates of every planet on record. We don't know exactly which ones are still inhabited, or if they are even still there, but we know that we can jump to the coordinates. This new UMN jump drive would not ensure a safe course to anyone. Explorers would have to risk their lives for years testing, hoping not to fall into black holes or imaginary pockets left behind in the incident.

This was not just money I was asking for, but lives of people who had almost given up already. We had to earn their trust.

Doctus was the one who first showed me the importance of that. As I sat, not for the first time, in front of that completed plan, wondering how on earth we would make it work, my sensors went off inside my head. Someone stood behind me.

"Oh, Doctus!" I exclaimed, realizing with my observational capabilities who it was very quickly.

She turned off the optic camouflage she had used to sneak into the room, and gave me the same cocky smirk as always. It never bothered me honestly, but I could clearly see why people were so distrusting of her. "Hey there, realian girl," she addressed me.

I wrinkled my nose just a little at the poor joke. "I wish you wouldn't call me that."

"Ha," she laughed. "You should consider it an honor."

I was never sure if that was meant to be a reference to the last realian she'd befriended, or just a typical cocky statement; but I ignored it. Doctus was someone who cared very little about other people's sensitivities, but went right on ahead making bad jokes. This was not to say that she was heartless, but she definitely had her priorities arranged differently from mine. I could understand why.

"People aren't going to trust us if you go around doing things like that," I said, and hoped that approaching her with the problem it caused would persuade her to tone it down, since she wouldn't do it simply for my peace of mind. "...and trust is something that we can't do without, if we're going to start messing with spacial transfers."

"I suppose you are right about that," she replied, humoring me. "But that's precisely why you are going to be our spokesperson. Who wouldn't buy a jump system from an adorable realian like you?"

"Spokesperson?" I stuttered. "What are you talking about?"

"I've decided that you're going to give your proposal publicly in two months," she said, then she placed a hand dominantly on my terminal. "You're going to announce it, and explain it in nice simple words for all the folks at home."

"Me?"

She seemed to arch an eyebrow behind that goggles which covered much of her face. "Is there a problem?"

I grimaced and thought about that in my seat. My hands stopped their work. "I suppose I could, but do you think it will work that way? People don't always trust realians, and I look like a little girl, anyway..."

"What, are you afraid of an audience? Ha! Don't tell me that the savior of the universe is shy in public."

"That's not it at all," I explained. "I have the appearance of a child. Normal people can't comprehend a child designing a replacement network for the UMN. It'll be really obvious that I'm realian."

She stood up very straight and looked at me with disapproval. "So?" she objected. "People have become more relaxed about realians ever since the incident. The realians are the first to help out in a pinch. I don't see what you're so worried about."

"If it was an adult realian, maybe..." My voice drifted off too obviously. I could tell she would either ask me to elaborate or tell me I'm wrong if I didn't, so I continued. "A child who can put together something like this is so inhuman. It's going to... I think it gives people the creeps."

"I think you're just avoiding something else entirely."

"Can't you do it?" I argued. "You don't have to stay hidden, you're not a terrorist anymore!"

She just laughed at me. "You're not going to make it very far with insecurities like that." Then she sighed. "Look, I'm not into pep talks. If you don't want to do it, then it's not going to get done well enough, and the entire thing could flop."

I took a deep breath and realized that she was right. Then something occurred to me. "Miyuki could do it."

"That girl?" Doctus nearly spat. "She wouldn't make it to the podium without falling on her ass."

"That's a mean thing to say, but... it is pretty true," I said, feeling bad for poor Miyuki. "What if... we go together?"

"I guess I can take that compromise," she answered. "But you should do the talking. I bet men from all over the universe would throw themselves into black holes for you if you asked them nicely."

"What? Uh... I don't want to do that..."

Doctus laughed in a loud voice, which came suddenly to me and I backed up a bit. "You've really got a lot to learn," she snickered. "Just get on that podium, and offer to risk your own life for the good of the universe. I guarantee that thousands of volunteers will pop up. A man's honor won't let him see a young girl fight on the front lines before he goes, himself."

"That seems awfully manipulative," I said, uneasy with the entire situation. "I don't want anyone to die."

"People are going to die for this," Doctus said with a tone like ice. "Get used to that."

It was then I understood. I was going to put my life on the line for this. Not only my own life, but countless others. But I continued in faith, absolutely certain that all of us would someday be heroes to the missing worlds.


	2. Goal

**Chapter II: Goal**

I'm not sure how much time had passed when the first thing happened. It was more than two months, but less than six. It's hard for me to remember because the whole time was so damn _boring_. We spent days and nights without ever setting foot out of the Elsa. The days transgressed into weeks, then months. I wondered how long it would take for us to find anything solid. We were just waiting for a sign.

"We'll be gone for a little while," is what I said to you. After a while I began to wonder, how much time was that little while gonna take?

After a month or two, the optimism that drove us was beginning to diminish slightly. Shion was happy enough with Allen, and we all knew that Allen was delighted with her. Captain Matthews and the crew (including Hammer, Tony, the professor, and Scott) weren't too affected either, since it was the same as usual for them, but they just weren't _doing_ anything. I suppose I should say it was the girls and I who felt it the most.

Mary and and Shelley sat in a bed playing a game of cards, and I sat with them, leaning my head against Mary's shoulder. I dropped the book I'd tried to read and nodded off. Soon enough, I had unintentionally slipped into her lap, and I guess I groped something I wasn't supposed to. I don't even remember what it was. All I remember was that she pushed me and I rolled off the bed and found myself sprawled out on the floor.

"Little Master!" Mary whined. "You've been sleepin' all day lately, that's not good for you!"

I didn't bother scraping myself off the floor as she stooped over me and scolded. "I don't have anything to do, it makes me sleepy."

"Go fire yer stupid guns!"

"I did that already."

"Go read yer stupid books!"

"I did that already."

"Well, just go an' bother somebody else!"

I grunted in defeat and laid motionless on the ground. "How do we even know where we're going?" I asked them.

"Well I dunno, go ask somebody who knows! Yer hair's all matted and you smell kinda funny and one of these days ya really _are_ gonna get pimples all over your face if ya don't wash it!"

I finally raised myself to sit cross-legged and saw Shelley shaking her head and counting her cards. Then I looked up at Mary, and I saw that she was genuinely angry that I hadn't been taking the best care of myself. "Sorry," I said, and stood up. "I know I'm not being as enthusiastic about things as I normally am."

"Aw," Mary cooed, and looked at me with sympathy for once, rather than great annoyance. "Little Master... we're all kinda feelin' cruddy, it's the truth. But ya can't lose hope like that."

"Heh... hey you guys never told me. Why is it you decided to come along? Is it because Gaignun told you to take care of me? You could have stayed and helped Helmer instead of being stuck on this ship."

"Well don't be silly, Little Master!" she replied, and turned her head towards her sister for some input.

Shelley's eyes brightened as she was pulled into the conversation. "Oh," she said calmly. "It is because we are your assistants, naturally."

"Huh?"

Mary snickered. "Our lot in life is to be Little Master's attendants. It's sad but true, we wouldn't be happy doing anything else! It's like chaos said to me one time, a long while back. He said everybody's good at somethin' and it makes us who we are. Me an' Shelley are just real good at takin' care of you, Lil' Master!"

"Hm..."

There's something about those girls that keeps me going. It's sort of the same thing that you possess. However, they aren't afraid to nag me. In fact, I think they might enjoy it. Back then I wondered, and I still do now, is that what it's like to have a mother?

"That doesn't make any sense at all," I said, but a smile was pulling at my lips that I couldn't hide. "Come on, you two. Put the cards down, we're going to the bridge."

"What for?" Mary stammered, but she and Shelley got up regardless and followed me as I left the room.

"Something I should have done months ago. I'm glad you two are here. It looks like I need someone to kick my ass into shape every now and then."

On the bridge, I found empty beer cans tossed around Captain Matthews' rising chair, where he sat snoring with headphones trapped over his ears, listening to the same Seraphim Sisters tracks again and again, no doubt about it. Tony was reading a questionable publication instead of paying any attention to where he was piloting, and Hammer was typing at something just because it didn't feel natural for him not to be doing so. I picked up a can threw it at Matthews, pegging him in the back of the head.

He snorted awake and whipped the headphones off, threatening to throw them at me in retaliation. "What the hell?"

"Call everyone here!"

"What the hell for?" he grumbled. "Did ya find something?"

"No, just do it!"

He did as I said and soon enough, everybody was on the bridge. The professor and Scott scrambled in first, complaining that we had interrupted their latest giant robot creation. Obviously those two never get bored. Shion and Allen dragged in last, both in pajamas. Shion's hair was a mess and she hadn't even bothered to put it into hair clips.

I snorted as they walked in. "Whoa, did I interrupt you guys?"

"We were watching a movie," Shion explained, stretching her arms.

"_Sure_ you were!"

"Well you're lively as usual," Allen said in annoyance. "What did you call us for?"

"We're going to set a clear destination and keep working every day to learn everything about it that we possibly can!"

"What?" Captain Matthews grumbled. "We don't even have a clear idea of what area of space we're going to, we're just flying!"

"We are just out here waiting for a sign or something," I told them. "We're never gonna get anywhere like that!"

"Well, what do you want us to do about it?" Shion nagged. "Regular propulsion is all that we've got!"

I folded my arms and nodded knowingly, even though I really knew nothing. "Stick out your arm and point your finger, Shion."

"_What?_"

"You're the one who had the special link to chaos and KOS-MOS. We've used the Y-DATA fragments to narrow down a certain area of the universe, so just pick a star."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"I just told you!"

"It's not going to work, just like that!"

"Why not?" I put my hands on my hips and strutted up to the star display. "One of these points of light is the sun of the solar system where Lost Jerusalem lies. Just pick one! It'll give us a place to start."

Shion took a deep, frustrated breath, and decided to humor me. "How about that one?" she said, choosing at random. "That little, kind of yellowish one."

"Excellent choice! Hammer, Shelley, find out where that is and plot a course to it!"

"That'll take _weeks_ without the UMN," Hammer whined. "And it might not even be the right place!"

"Just do it!"

"Little Master," Shelley said softly. "That star is several thousand light years away from us. We couldn't get there at normal propulsion even if we traveled for our entire lifetimes."

"Well that's why we've got so many scientists on board," I replied, and whipped around to point my finger accusingly at the Professor and Scott. "You two stop screwing around with your giant robots and build us an engine that can go faster than the speed of light, or bend time even, if it'll get us there!"

The Professor began doing that bowlegged dance of his and yelling. "You don't understand, that's just not physically possible!"

"That's something I'd have never expected to hear you say, Professor," I told him with my head hung low. "I'm downright ashamed."

He and his assistant glared back at me, and I knew I had issued a challenge. "Well all right," the professor answered, finally. "I'll call it Erde Kaizer WARP DRIVE!"

"That's the spirit! Allen and Shion, you stop snuggling so much and help them out!"

As expected, Allen complained. "What? This is nuts! Neither of us has any experience with propulsion systems!"

"You better learn if we're going to find KOS-MOS and chaos, right?" I laughed. "Come on, what happened to Courage, Friendship, and Love?"

"I don't think the ship can run on courage, friendship, and love..." Allen said under his breath.

"Now you heard Lil' Master!" Mary scolded the group collectively. "Stop lying on your butts and make it so that it can!"

I laughed at the top of my lungs and most of them glared at me viciously. "That's right."

Nothing really changed after that. We were still sailing on an open breeze, following a course laid only by whimsical fate. There was still little that any of us could do but wait for a sign from the unknown. But it felt like _something_ had happened.

Where there is no sign, I'll make one up for us. You might say that's a quick way to get lost, but it's better than nothing.


	3. Guidance

Note: My internet is out, so I've been writing like crazy and then uploading them from the library. I really want to respond to everyone's reviews, but my internet access is really limited right now. So for now I will say now, thanks so much!

**Chapter 3: Guidance**

It had been one year and two months since the Elsa carried you away, plus a few days.

The Dammerung had been modified into a Scientia vessel, and the organization took over most of the company's work. Everything that they didn't want or could not cover was cut off and formed into new, smaller organizations.

Though I am not sure if I like what the methods very much, the results were good, and we didn't really lie. We used Vector as a scapegoat, more or less, and made Scientia out to be the heroes that had saved the universe from Vector's corrupt and secretive leaders. We didn't tell them that Wilhelm was behind the scenes in nearly every authoritative organization in history, or that he wasn't human, or that his desires were not self-serving. All of that would be told later by historians after humanity had given itself a chance to breathe. What we did tell them was that Scientia was the new label they could trust in.

The day to prove that point finally arrived, and I felt that I could use a chance to breathe, myself.

In a room prepped for a press conference on the Dammerung, I stood in a grey Scientia office uniform next to Miyuki, who wore the same, only hers was tailored for an adult. I was quaking in the little boots with the infinity signs embossed onto them. I was scared. It was fear of rejection. It had been a while since I had felt that sort of fear. Of course it was, because you and the others were always good to me.

Miyuki lacked a single reservation. She was excited and sure as always. I was so glad that I asked her to help. Not only was she the best at explaining the system in laymen's terms, but ever since Shion and the rest of you left, the two of us had become good friends. With her there, I felt like a little of that kind of courage might rub off onto me.

Ziggy stood behind us, silent as a shadow, watching for hidden dangers; though I was glad he was there more for moral support than his physical protection. He's always been my pillar of strength. Just having him there made me feel a little bit better. I knew that I would have to make him proud of me, and that was a kind of insurance that I would make this work out.

"Hey, what are you so nervous about?" Miyuki asked me in a teasing tone, and put her hands on her hips. "This is gonna be great!" With that, she energetically pumped her fist into the air.

I smiled, but it didn't do very much to ease my worries. Miyuki saw everyone equally, so of course she wouldn't have understood my troubles quite as well as she needed to. "I just don't think they will take me seriously. Or maybe they won't believe me."

Ziggy considered that for a moment, and I wondered how he would try to comfort me with hopeful eyes. He said, "Gaignun Kukai Jr. never seemed to have a problem with that."

I perked up at the mention of your name. It had been a long time since I'd heard it. It was true. Everyone admired you as a leader, no matter what you were, and no matter what you looked like. I just had to be like you.

"How exactly does one act like Jr.?" Miyuki said in a sarcastic tone, while rubbing her chin and looking upwards, feigning deep thought. "Maybe you should drink a few cups of coffee and chomp down some sugar-coated candy before you go on out there."

At that, I laughed a good deal harder than I had in a while.

"Just be confident," Ziggy said, as I managed to calm down. "Even if you feel unsure, go ahead, unafraid. People will be attracted to this quality. It's more important than the general idea of what you are saying, or how you may look."

I nodded with a grin on my face. "Yes!" I agreed, and stuck out my hand in a pointing gesture. "MOMO is going to go all the way!"

Miyuki scrutinized my display of confidence. "Hmm, could be more enthusiastic."

I jumped on my heels and raised my fists up, determined. "Come on everyone! Together we can save the universe!"

"Yes! Yes! Do that!"

"Okay!"

Ziggy chuckled softly. He watched as Miyuki and I took the stage. His eyes were on me the entire time, soft and proud. I don't remember all that I said, I just know that the words began to tumble from my mouth naturally. Everyone seemed excited and happy.

"Don't lose hope! We will see our missing loved ones again!"

Everyone wanted to believe in that message. There were very few critics. No one asked me about Scientia's shady background, or the fact that I was created specially by Joachim Mizrahi, still rumored to be a mad man. They didn't ask me _how can it possibly work?_ They asked me when was the soonest it could be ready.

After the meeting was closed, Miyuki went back to her duties and Ziggy took me to meet my mother at a dinner. The three of us gathered at a table in a nice restruant in one of the touring sections of the Dammerung, of course, very little touring took place there now.

"I wanted to see your presentation so badly," she said. "Please forgive me. I did watch it on the broadcast though, and you were wonderful."

"I didn't know it was broadcasted!" was my response, and I began to get embarrassed all over again. I wasn't disappointed at all that she was unable to make it because I knew that she was just as busy as I was.

"Were you worried about it?" she laughed. "Oh, Jan... you told her she would do fine, didn't you?"

"I did, but I don't think she believes me."

"I do, I just--! All of those people..."

"It isn't the first time everyone in the universe has depended on you," she told me, and she unfolded her napkin into her lap. "I don't understand why you are so worried."

"What are you going to order?" Ziggy asked, before I responded. I laughed, wondering if he was trying to throw me a subject change.

"I think I'll get one of their soufflés," I said with a smile. "Ziggy, are you sure that you're okay not eating?"

"My body does not require nutrition in the form of food, nor do I have the digestive systems needed to consume it."

"I know, but... I feel bad to eat in front of you like that."

He patted my shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll just enjoy it vicariously by watching you eat."

The waiter came to take our orders. I made mine and then looked at Mom.

"I'll have stuffed shrimp casserole," she said. "and to drink, a margarita." Then she looked at me and smiled. "Do you want one, MOMO?"

The waiter and I both looked equally shocked. "Um... don't those have alcoholic content?" I asked sheepishly.

"Yes, but it's okay. You're a big girl now, right? They have strawberry ones..."

"Can't I just have a slush?" I whimpered. Ziggy and the waiter both chuckled.

"Oh, fine," my mother said, and seemed a little disappointed.

"I'll bring her a non-alcoholic drink then," the waiter said, and hurried off.

I adjusted my posture and smiled. "I bet Alby will be jealous when we go home," I said. "He always pouts if I don't bring him some leftovers."

Suddenly I heard someone say something very loud. They were a couple of former-Vector Scientia employees who lived here. "Oh my gosh, isn't that MOMO and Juli Mizrahi?"

The young lady jumped up from her dinner and came over to our table. "Can I help you?" I asked earnestly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, Miss Mizrahi!" she said with an air of huge respect that I had never heard before. "But I would like to ask if Gadalya might be in your plans?"

I was stunned silent for a second just by the way she spoke to me, as if I was a celebrity or a religious figure. "Uh-um," I stuttered, and then the answer to the question came clearly. "We will certainly do our best first to make contact with every system that we possibly can. After we establish a safe jumping mechanism, we will be sending ships out in great numbers simultaneously. If you want to keep up with the news as soon as it comes out, there is a special channel for that which you can join. It was established for family members and loved ones—"

"Oh yes, I'm a member!" she interjected. "I just thought maybe you would know even more, I'm sorry. Um… do you think someone like me would make a good volunteer?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I just work as a secretary, I'm not very good at math and I've never flown anything, but I would like to help out any way that I can. All of us feel that way."

I didn't know the answer to that, but my mother stepped in to help. "Do you have communications skills?"

"Yes Ma'am, well… as you can see, I talk too much," the girl then laughed nervously. "I'm sorry, please enjoy your dinner—"

"No, wait," she continued, "if you are really serious, then you can apply to the communications system in the reconstruction project, they need plenty of outgoing people to help smooth communications between reunited systems."

"Oh, yes Ma'am! Thank you!" She nodded in gratitude and scurried back to her table. There was silence at ours for a moment as I recovered and took a deep breath.

"You're going to be getting that a lot," Mom said to me.

"I'm just not used to that sort of um…"

"They will expect you to guide them and make decisions for them," she said.

"Mommy…" I said, "I don't know if it's right for me to do that…"

"As a leader, it's your duty," Ziggy noted. "It's the same whether there are a few people depending of you, or billions."

The waiter came back with our drinks and set them on the table. I was still reeling from that realization. Mom raised her glass and smiled. "See, now I bet you wish you had one of these."


	4. Changes

**Changes**

It seemed like no time before a year passed. Everybody kept themselves busy in one way or another. We had our fights and came close to killing one another now and then. I remember an old movie where a family got stranded on an island. It was like that, pretty much. Well… maybe our cast was a little more... interesting.

We hadn't had anything but the slightest clues, mostly rocks and junk, and life was still so horribly boring on the Elsa. We kept on working hard as usual. Still, I wanted something to change, even if it was a danger. In fact, I kept hoping we'd run into something dangerous. At least my blood might run a little faster. I wanted to fire my guns at something that deserved it, instead of the same innocent targets over and over again.

But every morning up until that morning had been basically the same. Finally, something did change, but it didn't come from outside. In fact, it was all inside of me.

It was at breakfast that one morning. We were pretty lucky. At least Shion can cook, right? Allen isn't too bad either. We put them on meal duty for the long haul. The Godwin sisters, having lived a life of luxury in Gaignun's exquisite care, didn't know salt from sugar; and hell if any of us were gonna be stuck with Tony and Hammer's awful slop for years. Heh... and you don't want to see _me_ try it.

So yeah, we were around the table one morning. Fried eggs and toast, I think. All of the ingredients came out of a material synthesizer the professor made after the fresh stuff ran out long ago, but Shion made it all taste real somehow. I was messing with Allen about something, I forget what (it's something new and equally hilarious just about every day with him). In my moment of distraction, Mary dove for one for my eggs. I smacked her knuckles with my butter knife without mercy.

She cried, "Ouch!" rubbing her hand like I'd bitten her or something. "What'd you do that for?"

"You were trying to steal my egg, that's what!"

"But Little Master, you took three and the rest 'uh us only got one apiece!"

"I only took as much as I'm gonna eat," I said in my defense.

She wrinkled her nose up at me. "You've been eating like a 'lil piggy lately, even for you!"

I straightened up in my chair, maybe to make myself look bigger. "Did you just call me a pig?"

"Yer darn right! Eatin' up all our suppah' and then hoggin' down at breakfast too!"

"I can't help it, I've just been so hungry lately!"

Nobody at the table was paying attention to us by then. It was usual for me and Mary to be fighting like cats and dogs. Everybody just went on eating their eggs and toast as if our noise was nothing but a song on the radio.

"You don't need it anyway!" I scolded Mary. "You're gonna get a gut!"

"Are you calling me fat?" she yelled, and slapped her hands on the table. Shelley yawned. Captain Matthews reached for another piece of toast.

"Yeah I'm _calling you_--" the last words came out funny and I stopped. It was weird, kinda squeaky.

Mary froze and looked at me with wide, saucer eyes, forgetting the argument completely. Everyone at the table became silent as death. Allen stopped in the middle of chewing and his mouth hung open. I tried to clear my throat and pass it off that way, but they _knew_.

Everyone (that includes Shelley, if you can believe it) began laughing uproariously all at once. "Oh my god!" Shion gasped for breath, slapping her palm against her forehead. "Jr.! Your voice!"

At that point I could tell I was completely red but I still tried to look cool. "_What?_"

Everyone laughed again until they were beating the table and crying tears. Tony nearly knocked over his orange juice. Hammer snorted milk out of his nose.

"Well you can have my damn eggs!" I shouted and got up from the table. I stomped out of the room, but they laughed at me all the way.

Grumbling at my misfortune, I decided to head back to my bunk in the men's quarters and read a book or watch a movie or something to escape from all of this. I think that was the first time that I strongly wished to see you, just you. If you were there, you wouldn't have laughed.

Walking down the hallway alone, that's exactly when I heard it. Someone else was laughing, but they weren't exactly present. _Now you know how we both felt, Rubedo. No fair missing out. _

I froze stiff and my eyes opened wide. I think I even looked left to right all around in the hallway, stupid as that was. "Albedo...?"

_Why are you always so surprised to see me? Hopeless, I tell you._

I laughed. It was the most natural thing I could do. "So how long have you been awake? You were planning your reappearance for a while, weren't you?"

_Just observing,_ the voice replied. Albedo's voice was never a sound that most people would find comforting. It was twisted, wrought with sarcasm, and barbed here and there with the bitter humor that he found in everything. To me though, there were few things that could be more soothing than hearing his voice after so long. _It took me a while to distinguish myself, what with all of these random thoughts floating around in your head. Curry rice gun powder Clint Eastwood egg and cheese Wizard of Oz omelet pork rib artillery... Perhaps I should rearrange a few of your priorities while I'm in here. _

"Don't blame me," I said. "You've kept me waiting a while now. I've been so damn bored. Hey! That's right... I have a message for you!"

_What are you babbling about now? _

"MOMO told me to say hello to you for her," I said.

_Ah..._

His reaction to your name felt strange. I could feel it resonating through me. Was that really his guilt, or was it my own, I wondered. It had to be mine. I'm not sure if Albedo had ever admitted fault, even to himself.

_And where is your mechanical angel now, Rubedo?_

"Back at home. Why?"

There was a pause. Then. _You are an idiot._


	5. Preparation

It had been a month shy of two years since you left, sojourning with only your intuition to guide you.

I often wondered if you would be alright out there. As the project came closer to a climax, I wondered if I should have stopped you, made you wait. But no, then again, you would never have waited. You're all just like that.

I wondered if you were already there, or if you had at least found your way. You had nothing to guide you, and even knowing the path, that area may have been so many light years away. Still, I had faith in the impossible, the unimaginable.

All of us worked very hard to make something of the impossible here, as well.

We finished the guidance system, which would be able to detect and alert jump pilots to the presence of obstacles, though danger was still present. A false move in hyperspace, and the crew of whatever ship made the jump may end up in the abyss. This is how it would be until routes were established. We were pioneers who thought not so long ago that we knew this universe well. We were, like ancient people before us, trail-blazers sewing apple seeds.

A small, maneuverable ship was built. It could be flown by a minimum of two people, though it could accommodate up to ten. It was the first ship to be equipped with the completed jump drive model.

Miyuki and I stood side-by-side in the hangar along with Ziggy and Doctus, staring up at the completed product. Grey and undecorated, it didn't look like much. For a space-faring ship, it didn't even look very strong on the surface. It had no weapons,

"Audaces fortuna iuvat," said Doctus.

Miyuki shrugged, wondering what that meant. "So uh... who gets to test it first?"

"I think I should do it," I volunteered, first of all.

"No way," Doctus replied. "This technology has never been tested outside of simulators. We're not sure if this thing will fly, or blow up. We can't put anyone vital to the project on board, as cold as it might sound."

"We should send Togashi," Miyuki laughed.

I didn't feel nearly as casual about the situation. "We have many skilled volunteers, but... I don't want to send anyone out in a craft that I wouldn't ride on myself!"

"You're still worried about that, huh?" Doctus groaned. "Look, everyone understands the situation."

"But I should be the one to--" I was stopped from my objection as Ziggy clapped his gloved hand onto my shoulder.

"What about me?" he asked us. "I can test it. Then, it won't feel as if you're sending nameless soldiers or realians to die. I'm important to you, and I will come back. Yet at the same time, if there is a problem, you and the other developers will be free to help. Besides, my body can withstand exposure to harmful elements much longer than humans."

"Ziggy," I mouthed quietly. "If anything happened to you... if anything happened to anyone... that's why I want to do it!"

"Listen to this guy," Doctus said, and leaned her head back. She gave Ziggy a sly little half-smile. "This guy has been around longer even than I have. If he wants to go, then I'm going to say _sure thing_. It's an honor." Ziggy remained silent in response to this, but I had to wonder what he was thinking.

Miyuki asked with her nose wrinkled up in distaste. "Hey aren't you just an android anyway, Doctus? Why don't you go on the stupid test flight?"

"It's true that I could probably survive even if the thing is busted," Doctus mused. "Sure, I'll go with the cyborg."

I was worried, but I knew that they were set on their decision after reaching this agreement. "You have to promise that you'll come back," I said.

Ziggy smiled faintly. "It's a promise."

With that decided, we began to prepare the test. Ziggy sat in a piloting chair on the bridge of the small ship. Doctus sat on the other side, and looked over the flight preparations.

"So what would happen to you if we were to fail and be destroyed?" Ziggy asked her.

She smirked. "Wow, it doesn't seem like you to be asking questions." He didn't respond, waiting for an answer. "Well, back in the days of the UMN, I could simply retrieve my memories from the Unus Mundus and activate another remote android. However, since that system no longer operates one hundred percent, the memories stored in this body may become lost, and the person who I am may cease to exist entirely."

"And you came on this mission, knowing that..."

"It doesn't matter," she shrugged. "The person who continues to exist will still be Scientia's leader, and will still have perfect capabilities to continue this project. It's simply that _Doctus_ may not exist. You may have to introduce yourself the next time we meet."

"And even so, you wouldn't rather that one of the test pilots carry out this mission?"

"I have reasons for wanting to go with you," Doctus told him. "It's my duty to support you."

"I don't see why--"

"MOMO," Doctus asked. I had been tuned in on the monitors the entire time, thinking I hadn't been noticed. I jumped a little at the sound of my name.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Check everything one last time, and let's get ready to go."

"Yes, I will," I answered. "Oh, and Ziggy, there's a transmission for you."

"Hm?" Ziggy looked up. "I can take it here."

I smiled, and then my mother's face replaced mine on Ziggy's panel (I was still connected through Doctus though, maybe I picked up your habit). She had a worried expression on her face. "Jan," she said, "You really don't have to do this."

"All lives are equally valuable to us. I wanted MOMO to believe that, without endangering her."

"But..." she looked down, finding words, and raised her head again. "If anything were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do."

"You don't need any help raising MOMO."

"That's not what I meant."

Doctus began to clear her throat and stand. "Well, I think I forgot something," she lied, and clapped her hand down on the controls to turn off my feed.

Thanks to that, I don't know what my mother said. I would understand later; but at the moment, I was confused.

Outside, Doctus said to me, "I think your bodyguard has a thing for doctors, doesn't he?"

I just looked at her quizzically. I had no idea what that meant. Since when does Doctus care about anything remotely dealing with romantic interest, is what I thought to myself.

"I'm just making an observation, that's all."

* * *

_audaces fortuna iuvat : Fortune favors the brave_


	6. Time Trick

**Time Trick**

The first year went on and passed on by. The presence of Albedo made things a little more bearable. I had someone to talk to. I found myself speaking aloud, and everyone thought that was weird. Weirder than usual, I mean. Shion understood, and she explained it to everyone for me. She has a brother too, but then... her brother doesn't take residence in her _subconscious_, so it's not quite the same.

Talking to Albedo was like having a conversation with your conscience. He is part of my personality, but he's arguing with me and criticizing me all the time. He laughs at my misfortune. It's like an old cartoon where the angel and the devil sit on your shoulders and try and win you over, except with Albedo playing both roles.

And then at other times, I was unable to tell if he was speaking to me, or if I'd just had a thought of my own. His presence was intangible. Kind of scary, really.

I often spoke to myself in my sleep and kicked around. We'd argue about Nigredo, we'd argue about you, we'd argue about the universe, and all while neither of us was really awake. Because of that, no one wanted the bunk above mine. Fine with me. That's how things went for a while.

Time just passed on by.

Then one time, I remember waking up in the middle of the night, but it was someone else yelling. Someone else's voice roused me out of bed, rather than Albedo's taunts or someone telling us to shut up. It was from down below.

"We've done it!" the professor shouted so loudly that we could hear the commotion from the first level. The banging and shouting had woken up everyone, not just me. It was early in the morning. We all rose and groggily piled down into the laboratory, groaning like a hoard of zombies, to find the Professor and Assistant Scott locked arm in arm and prancing around the room in victory.

"This is really not a good way to start your day," I grumbled.

_I think it's pretty amusing._

Mary, whose hair was in curlers, burst first, and tore into them. "What in the hell are ya'all hootin' and hollerin' so early in the mornin' for?"

They halted and backed up as if withstanding a blast from a furnace. Shion followed up. "This had better be good," she said with her arms crossed.

"Yes, it is!" the Professor assured us. "We've just finished Erde Kaizer WARP DRIVE! We can move faster than the speed of light!"

I perked up at the sound of that and got all excited. "Really? That's awesome!"

"Wait a minute," Allen groaned. "Just how does it work? There's gotta be a down side."

"Well," the professor began, scratching his head. "It's not really faster than light in _motion_ so much... First we jump really far into the future to the point we actually _reach_ our destination under normal propulsion, then quickly jump back to the same coordinates, but only as far ahead as we have actually experienced."

"But won't we all be dead bits of space dust then?" Allen pointed out with the usual skepticism. "Even with the nuclear core, the Elsa would disintegrate too! Not to mention--wait, _time travel?_"

"It just so happens," Scott explained, "that ever since our supposed skip into the past--even though it wasn't actually the past, per say--the Professor and I have been playing with the idea. It's perfectly safe, all of us and the ship itself will be perfectly fine! The best part is, there's only a _small_ chance of the universe exploding in the process."

"Oh, well that's a relief!" Allen sighed. "If that's all, then--wait, WHAT?"

The Professor rubbed his chin. "You see, if we somehow cause a time paradox in the process, then it won't work. For example, if our fate is that we explode in space and don't ever get to Lost Jerusalem, then there's no way we can set the drive to take us there. It'll result in us exploding in space."

I blinked. "So you are saying that if this thing somehow causes us to explode, then we all will have already exploded by the time we use it?"

"Precisely."

_Makes perfect sense to me, Rubedo._

I felt like beating my head into a wall. "Well, are we going to explode or aren't we?"

"We probably won't."

Shion let out a deep sigh of frustration and rubbed her head. "I think I'm going back to sleep."

I calmed down and grudgingly accepted the situation. "Well okay, if we _don't_ explode, how long will it take us to get there?"

"Can't say for certain as long as we don't have the exact coordinates," Scott said with an apologetic tone, "it could take thousands of years. But I would say that for our perception, it will only take a few years, and that's only because we need to be able to go just slow enough so that we can detect and avoid obstacles."

"That's kind of pushing it, isn't it?" I pointed out. "I mean, chaos said that the end of the world was put off for ten thousand years or more, but it could still happen before we get there, the way this thing works."

"Hmm... hadn't thought of that. I guess if that's the case, then we'll just end up blowing up the universe a little prematurely."

"You're not really filling me with confidence," Allen said.

"Look here, Assistant Number Two--!"

"Hey!" I interjected, before the Professor could get antsy. "We'll have to locate more exact locational information regarding Lost Jerusalem. We can't use this drive to just jump anywhere, since we have our end-of-the-world deadline."

"Right," Shion said in agreement. "We will keep looking for more information. Until then, you guys keep developing this thing and make absolutely _certain_ that nothing will blow up. Also, try and see if there's any other way to go faster, since we only have ten thousand years to work with."

"Yes Ma'am!" Assistant Scott replied with a salute.

"Now, I am going back to bed," Shion answered. "Don't wake me up again unless you want to die."

"Got it!"


	7. Murphy's Law

Author's Notes: I want to say THANKS again to everyone for the reviews! Also, I want to point out that all the technical junk in this story is totally made up. I was trying to be accurate but that wasn't getting anywhere. XD Fanfiction is such SERIOUS BUSINESS.

**Chapter 6: Murphy's Law**

And then it was a day later.

The test started off as nothing exciting. We took off and traveled a day outside of the planet first, so that we would be free of traffic or any uninvited third party observers. Miyuki and I accompanied Ziggy and Doctus in another small ship to the testing grounds to observe.

"Everything is ready to go," I said.

"All right," Ziggy acknowledged. "Let's begin."

"Well now," Doctus said, "should we have ourselves a countdown?"

I laughed. "Okay, I think that would be nice."

Miyuki began to count, but she was a little too excited to count for actual seconds. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"

After the last number, Doctus said "See you later," then their ship flashed and warped away into a fold of time and space. The images on my console abruptly displayed a message where their faces had once been, "connection temporarily unavailable." Suddenly, they just weren't there.

"Well, they made it, at least!" Miyuki said, trying to lighten up the mood. "I mean, they didn't blow up..."

I smiled for her, but I was more concerned with their journey. "Good luck," I said, although they were unable to hear me.

The test ship hadn't been named yet. Well, it was called Scientia Jump Drive Prototype Version Five (four others had preceded it), so SJDPV5... but everyone knows that I don't really like names like that. I promised to give it a new name once it came back. It would have earned it.

While Ziggy was gone, I tried thinking of names like Jumper or Jumpy to pass the time by. They didn't sound very good, Miyuki didn't like any of them.

But while I was thinking about that, the poor little jump ship had run into some trouble. Ziggy and Doctus were calmly watching the lights of hyperspace, which no one else had seen in a few years. They were given a rude awakening from the peaceful passing; the ship shook violently, and the interior lighting went dead, along with all of the consoles.

Because of the levelheadedness of both of them, you would have thought that nothing was wrong at all, but it was a very compromising situation. They were flying blind in hyperspace, and along a makeshift column with no gates. They were unable to detect obstacles; and in hyperspace, to strike even a small chunk of rock that happened to take physical form in the wrong place could be a disaster.

"What could that have been?" Ziggy asked, calmly.

Doctus tried a few times to reboot the consoles. "We didn't hit anything, and obviously there is no enemy ship... something on the ship must have broken somehow."

"That's highly unlikely," he replied.

Doctus saw that she could not reactivate anything from here, and folded her arms. "Yes, I agree. It's more likely that this is sabotage than inadequate equipment, or pilot error."

"I have the remote scanner over here," Ziggy said, and began to use an emergency piece of equipment that ran independently from the ship's computers. "It's not picking up any foreign objects or any signs of tampering... what are the odds that it was a latent computer program?"

"Slim to none," Doctus replied. "I has to be something physically planted on the ship. The cameras won't work either, so we will have to find it ourselves. You search the inside, and I'll look over the hull."

"You're going to manually search the hull while we're in hyperspace," Ziggy said, confirming more than questioning.

"They planned it so that we won't be able to fix the thing unless we risk our own lives to do so. Very nice bug, if we couldn't detect it. My body is built just a little tougher than yours. I'll be fine."

Ziggy could not argue with the logic of that. "All right. I'll check inside."

And so they each went about their tasks. Doctus did little more than take her coat off before going out. Like KOS-MOS, her body was fully prosthetic and functional in space.

And while this was going on, back at home, I was beginning to worry. The jump seemed to be taking longer than we intended. Miyuki and I kept waiting, even though she suggested that we should maybe go back.

"I will be here when Ziggy gets back because he promised he _would_ come back," I told her.

"Well okay, I guess they'd contact us if headquarters could tell anything better than us."

It was not long after those words fell out of her mouth that we received a transmission from headquarters. They told us that a maintenance worker on the project had been caught making a suspicious transmission to an unknown party.

"They tampered with the drive ship?" Miyuki gasped.

"Looks that way," said the girl who handled transmissions within the group. "We really slammed the books on him. But the point is, I hope your friends are okay."

"I designed a system with auto-repair functions," I told them calmly. "And I... that system I designed... it won't fail them, it wont!"

"I believe you," Miyuki replied. "But still... it'd be nice if they could make it back on time..."

Time was getting tight for them, while we were able to do nothing but wait patiently. Ziggy remained inside the ship and searched the engine room, while he worried somewhere in the back of his mind that Doctus would be knocked off of the hull. Getting lost in hyperspace was an absolute finality.

"I've found nothing," he said to Doctus through their communications system.

"Hold on," Doctus said. "Our search may be at an end."

"Do you see something?"

"Yes. I searched in some of the hard-to-reach spaces around the thrusters and there is a small chip attached to the surface on one of the extensions. Likely this is transmitting the program that is affecting our systems."

"Stay there, I'll come out and help you."

"No, go to the bridge. Take control as soon as I remove it."

"What if--"

"Stay inside the ship. I don't need--" Her words were cut off just as the ship shook violently from some kind of impact.

"What is it?" Ziggy interjected, with a small amount of alarm. There was no answer. There were no blaring warning lights, but obviously something was wrong.

Outside, Doctus had taken a hit from a piece of rock which had materialized inside the column. It was one of many that were phasing in and out of hyperspace around them, which laid in their path at some point in time, at some axis of normal space. Most of the pieces passed through like shadows, not affecting Doctus or the ship in the least, but a small percentage did materialize just long enough to create an impact.

She had not even detected the tiny chunk that hit her, nevertheless it was like being shot by a high caliber pistol. Although it didn't physically injure her the way it would a normal person, she was thrown off of the hull and struggled to catch and hold onto another piece of it.

Remaining cool and collected, Doctus merely frowned at the loss of her communications device and regained her bearings. She knew that if she could remove the transmitter, then Ziggy would be able to reboot the ship's programs and drop them out into the safety of normal space.

When she looked up to determine the best way of doing that, she saw a light flashing in and out in the hyperspace tunnel. It was a brief flash that preceded the actual encounter of a physical body, whichin this case happened to be a giant star. There was no telling when they would actually hit it, but what became obvious to her was that the ship had been reprogrammed to take them through the path of that star intentionally.

I should explain that there _is_ a small chance of surviving such an encounter, since the ship in hyperspace may phase directly through the obstacle unharmed. However, for an object the size of a star, the odds of that happening are nearly equivalent to winning the billion-credit lottery on Second Miltia. That is why columns are designed to avoid such things.

Doctus took this realization with a grain of salt and looked to her target, a small camouflaged chip that was hidden away on one of the propulsion attachments to the ship. She was only able to see it at all by reprogramming her own internal sensors in order to do so. I am not sure whether the thought of someone that talented existing outside of Scientia, or the idea of someone within Scientia betraying us would have hurt her pride more. Well... Either way, I think she was pretty mad.

She scaled out onto the wing, which was a daunting task even for her. No direction was up or down, and an impossible amount of pressure was being pushed against her. She considered simply shooting it with her pistol, but came to the conclusion that such an action wouldn't be safe for either her or the ship.

As she neared the edge of the structure that jutted out from the hull, she found that she could go no further and reached out her arm. Most likely cursing her decision to come along (though I am sure she didn't mean it, if she did) she stretched and finally her fingers brushed the object. She grabbed it and ripped it off, like removing a tick from its host in disgust.

The ship was impacted again. It shook as more grains and fragments materialized in the column. Doctus lost her grip on the narrow segment of the hull and began to fall. She later described this too me as one of those moments where you can somehow fit twenty different expletives into a single one-tenths of a second. I suppose that falling from the hull of a ship due to a light impact _would_ be an unflattering end for the legendary leader of Scentia.

But luckily, her sense of falling endlessly was quickly ended as a cybernetic hand clamped tight around her arm. She looked up to find that Ziggy had disobeyed her order and come outside to help her after all. This came as no surprise to her. She only smirked from behind her dark goggles as usual.

"Well that's great," she said, while still dangling by Ziggy's arm from the back of their ship. "But I'm afraid that we're about to run into a star."

"Oh," Ziggy replied, equally unsurprised, as another visual pulse of the star indicated that their time was up. "Well... that seems appropriate at this point."

"Ha ha... "

But rather than burning them alive in space, the column suddenly began to shift, and then evaporated altogether, dumping them out into normal space. Ziggy pulled Doctus back onto a stable area of the hull, and they both stared speechlessly at their surroundings, which were now black and spotted with stars. The sun of whatever system they had been unlucky enough to fly into was huge and burning golden just barely a safe distance away.

"What happened?" Doctus asked.

"I am not sure," Ziggy replied. "I can only assume that the ship's own programming is to thank for this. After the device was removed, it must have repaired itself automatically.

"I see," Doctus answered, and then gave a small snicker. "In other words, MOMO has saved our asses."

They recovered and tiredly went back into the ship. Doctus sat in her chair and programmed a safe jump back home, while Ziggy found a nanomachine treatment to patch up the hole in her body.

"Thanks," Doctus answered, and took the item that he held out to her stiffly. Ziggy then turned and sat in his own seat. She assumed that he had nothing more to say, but he spoke.

"So why did you decide to come? Something like this can always happen, no matter how reliable the system itself is."

"I'll admit that it was not the best idea I have ever had," she explained, looking back on the ordeal, and gave him a shrug. "But... those of us who are living a second life seek to compensate for what we were unable to do in the past. Surely you of all people can understand that."

Ziggy crossed his arms over his chest and assumed a resting position in his chair as the ship jumped back towards home. "I understand," he assured her.

Later, when the ship returned to headquarters, I threw myself against Ziggy as hard as I possibly could as soon as he stepped out of the ship. "I was so worried!" I cried, and he hugged me.

"I apologize for causing you grief," he said, and patted my shoulders.

I regained my composure and shook my head. "No, I really wasn't _that_ worried," I corrected myself. "I knew you would be okay!"

My mother smiled and walked behind me. Her expression was relieved and content. "Welcome home, Jan," she said.

Miyuki bounced up after her, and Doctus then came from the ship. "Oh no!" I exclaimed when I saw the mark from her wound. "What happened to you? We apprehended someone who tampered wit the ship!" And then I began to tell them the source of my troubles while they were away.

Doctus put a hand to her hip and sighed tiredly before she began her own explanation. Their story followed, and I listened to every detail with anxiety. When she was finished she shrugged her shoulders. "But the fact is that the system works. It works even better than expected."

"I'm so glad!" I cheered. I wanted to hug Doctus too, but I didn't. I don't think she appreciates things like that very much.

"So!" Miyuki chirped, after having managed to sit through the entire story bored and relatively quiet. "What are we going to name the ship now? MOMO wants to give it a good name!"

"That's right," I said, and put one of my hands on the hull lovingly. "We created this together. There will be many more of them, but we should give this ship a name. It's earned it."

Miyuki balled her fists in the air confidently. "I got one! Moyuki!"

"What does that mean?" I asked her.

"It's MOMO and Miyuki together!"

"Oh, but Doctus helped make it too..."

"Momidoctmoyumitus!"

"Quiet," Doctus scolded. "What do you think, MOMO?"

"Maybe we should call it Bunny, since it's job is to jump, right? Or Jumpy... or hoppy!" I thought I heard Ziggy laugh just then, probably at the ship joining him in his silly name fate. He didn't let me catch him, though.

My mother declined from that gracefully. "Maybe we could give it a more... dramatic name, what do you say?"

"Aw, I guess so..."

"I have a perfect name for this ship," Doctus announced.

"Oh? What's that, Doctus?"

"I say we name her Penelope," she suggested.

"That's a pretty name. What does it mean?"

Doctus smirked, and then I knew that she was about to tease me. But surprisingly, it was Ziggy who answered. "It's the name of Odysseus's wife, who waited faithfully for twenty years for her husband to return from his journey."

"Oh, I like that name!" Miyuki seconded.

"Appropriate," Mom said, agreeing.

I pouted my lips, though. "I don't think... hey, I don't think that's very funny..."

My mother smiled. "Nobody said that it was referring to you, MOMO. It would be a fitting name considering the nature of this project."

"Haha!" Miyuki laughed, and poked me in the ribs mercilessly. "Guilty! Somebody misses Juuun-yeeeer!" Both my mother and Ziggy laughed a little bit at my expense as a result of that accusation.

"No, I uh... I don't..."

Miyuki snickered and slapped me on the back. "Did anybody ever tell you that you suck at lying?"


	8. Decoration

**Decoration**

Time flies when you're having fun. That's what they say. Time sure as hell wasn't flying, though.

It came time for a house meeting of sorts among the Elsa's inhabitants. The members were Matthews, Tony, Hammer, Shelley, Mary, Scott, the Professor, Shion, Allen, and myself. We sat around in each of our favorite places at the Elsa Bar, munching on snacks.

"I think it's time that Allen and I had our own quarters," Shion declared, standing before us unwaveringly. "And I am not taking no for an answer."

"Shion," Allen whispered. "Maybe we should try asking politely first?"

"No, Allen! I'm tired of this! I need it now!"

"That's what she said last night!" Tony said loudly, and all of the guys including me chuckled until Shion smacked me in the back of the head. I don't think I'm the one who deserved that, but I decided to just take it as an advance on the next stupid thing.

Captain Matthews groaned and stopped chugging his beer can for a moment. "Hey, don't yack at us, we'd love to get you lovebirds out of our hair. That goes for the men and women alike, I'm sure."

"You got that right," Hammer shuddered, recalling an awkward moment in the Hangar. I never asked him about the specifics, I don't really want to know.

"But there's only two rooms," Mary said. "If we split Allen and Shion apart from the rest, then Shelley and I will have to move in with you guys!"

"I'd take that option!" Tony shouted out, and then received a firm smack over the head from both Godwins. I nodded in approval. Hit the right guy.

"Gender issues aside," Shelley said, calmly. "It would make for very crowded conditions. The mens' quarters are already cramped."

"Well I've got it," I piped up. Now, I didn't really care if I slept in the girls' room or if they moved in with us or anything, I spent most of my time with them anyway. But the thought of having more privacy, that was enticing. "Why don't we just redesign the Elsa's cabins to make more smaller rooms instead of two big ones? It'll solve the problem, and it'll give us something to do."

"Good idea," Shion added.

"Not bad," said Matthews. "Hammer and Tony can share one room, Shelley and Mary can be in another, the Professor and Scott can build one outside the labs, Shion and Allen can get out of our hair, and uhh..." his glance drifted over to me questioningly. "Me and Little Master can each have our own rooms."

Hammer was the first to whine about that. "Hey, why do you two get private rooms?"

"You moron! Think about it. Who's chaos gonna be room mates with when we pick him up, huh? Little Master, naturally!"

I grinned. "Oh yeah, definitely! I can't wait!" I said, just to get my own room, but then I realized how much I meant it. I would really have liked to have chaos around. It never struck me until just then how much I really missed the guy. He had always been there, so I guess I took him for granted. He was always quiet, near invisible.

Without him around, we all felt at times that something was missing, or just not right. Then we would sit down and think about it until it hit us. The answer was obviously chaos. At the mention of his name, everyone started getting nostalgic looks on their face.

"Not to mention that Jr. sort of already has a room mate," Shion said.

_It's about time someone took my accommodations into account._

"You shut up," I whispered.

"Who are you talking to? Oh... right." Hammer pointed to his head and spun his index finger around. Just for that, I let Albedo use my leg for a minute and kick him.

"Okay, so Little Master gets a room," Tony said. "Why do you get one? Planning on picking up some thousand-year-old babes on Lost Jerusalem?"

"Because I'm the captain, you moron!"

That seemed to be a good enough reason. And so, the Elsa family project known as the Great Bedroom Renovation took place. I am sure it will live on in infamy for nearly claiming the lives of Hammer and Allen on several different occasions through incidents involving bitchy women and heavy falling objects.

Once everyone had gotten themselves a set amount of cubic units to call their own, someone had the great idea that we should decorate them however we saw fit. I (naively) thought that choosing a wall color would be going far enough. I bet you can't guess what color my room was (Albedo hated it). But that wasn't all... I didn't realized just how creepy this was going to get until I had the misfortune of entering Mary and Shelley's completed room.

It was all flower print, and there as nothing weird about that. I was more concerned with the life-sized representation of Gaignun plastered on the far wall. "What the _hell_ is that?"

"It's Master Gaignun!" they chirped back in unity.

"I know that!" I continued, "could you take it down? That's the creepiest thing I've ever seen!"

_I'd have to agree... and that says a lot, coming from me, doesn't it?_

"Come 'ere," Mary said, and yanked me over to it by my collar. With a bright red marker she ran a line across the wall right over my head next to the poster. "Oh look!" she squealed. "You've shot up so much! You'll be at his shoulders before you know it!!"

Shelley patted my head lovingly and made a kind of scary face at me. "Yes, he'll be just like Master Gaignun in no time at all... no time at all..."

I broke loose of Mary's grip bolted out of their room with a horrified yelp. I want to think that they were joking, but I have never been one hundred percent sure.

Outside, I ran into Shion headfirst and fell backwards. "Hey, how is your room going?" I asked, if only to save myself from the Godwin sisters.

"It's great," she said, and then looked around to make sure that Mary and Shelley hadn't followed me. "Jr., I wanted to ask what you think about something."

It sounded fishy. "...is this a trick?"

"No, really I need some advice from a friend."

"Haha, okay!" I laughed, and the idea bolstered my attitude back up to the norm.

"Now don't tell anyone else," she said. "Don't even tell Allen."

That was weird. "All right... what's up?"

"Do you think that Allen and I should get married now, or when we get back home?"

"Aha," I said, and nodded sagely. "You two really are serious after all, I never doubted it!"

"Well it doesn't take a genius," she scoffed, then quickly smiled again. "I would like to do it right away, but I would also like for everyone to be invited, including MOMO and the others."

"That is a dilemma," I mumbled, in thought. "Only one solution to that!"

"What's that?"

"You should get married now, but when we get back home, we'll hold a killer reception! How about that?"

"Good idea, Jr.!"

"Now who gets to be the best man?" I joked, nudging her with my elbow. "It's me, right?"

"...more like ring boy."

"Ouch."

_Mwa ha ha._


	9. Keltian Conflict I

**Chapter 9: Keltian Conflict I**

And so, two years came to pass, and two months more. Finally it was time to go. Finally, we could travel!

The incident I described earlier seemed to be nipped in the bud. A small group of individuals got the idea that they might save the world better than we could, or maybe they just thought that they could make more money while they were at it. I couldn't have imagined. They planned to shatter all support for the project and take the research to another industry to reintroduce it. I didn't want it to be true.

My project, people on my project were dissenting and betraying us. Even if it was a handful out of the hundreds, it was so depressing. Didn't we pay them enough? Weren't we good enough to them? Did this signify a huge morale problem within the ranks, and who could I trust anymore?

My mother told me, "Human ambition is regularly paired with selfishness."

Quickly I was awakened to the reality of the fact that everyone would not ban together, hand in hand, to solve the problem. That was my mistake. Security had not been my top priority before. So, I got a little wiser. I even carry a stun weapon now just in case. You'd probably have liked it.

In the midst of this problem, it was time for the first true mission. Penelope had been refitted for prolonged use. She had been repaired, a state-of-the art security program was installed. The thrusters had been expanded and rehauled for greater mobility. Her hull was given a fresh new coat of paint. It was... light reddish. Okay, so it was pink...

We all attended a board meeting to plan for the first contact attempt.

"This time the pilots will be Miyuki and myself," I said firmly to the team of researchers and important project heads present. I think I gave them a look that dared them to challenge me, but... I doubt I was really that menacing.

"If anything happens, there's no one that can replace you," Doctus reminded me, but her tone was not very serious.

"Uh... me either, right?" Miyuki squeaked in mild offense, but she got ignored.

"It won't fail," I said. "We have tested it in short-range jumps. The system works fine. I want to see this through from beginning to end."

There was a silence over the table. "I think it's a great idea," a sponsor representative at the meeting said. He was all for it. "Showing brave little MOMO going out to save a lost world will certainly bolster our popularity and the team's morale, especially after all that traitor business."

My mother nodded in agreement. "I'll support your decisions," she said. "But I must also insist that you take Ziggy as well. We have no idea how stable other systems are, if we do manage to find them."

"Okay, but Penelope really is equipped to hold her own any just about any situation!" I reassured them. "More importantly, what system should we attempt to locate first?"

Doctus spoke again. "I suggest Keltia," she said. "It's not far from to Fifth Jerusalem in astronomical terms, and if all goes well, their science programs should be able to emulate the system and start a secondary project headquarters."

"I agree," Juli Mizrahi added. "Keltia is one of the many planets that we know must still exist, we just haven't been able to contact them. We need to open communications with them as soon as possible."

"I like it!" Miyuki cheered. "If we're lucky, in a months or so, we could be listening to an all new Seraphim Sisters album!"

I giggled at that. "I sure hope so."

So, we prepared to leave. A few days later, I was putting on my uniform.

It occurred to me that you never once sent a transmission behind you. Not even to let me know that all of you were still alive and searching. I decided to take it as a sign. You couldn't have sent me a message because you had already found some amazing, totally new way of jumping towards the location in your dreams.

Or maybe sitting down to record such a thing was just too much trouble during all of those adventures you must have been having. Too much looking back.

I'm glad you never looked back. I decided to look ahead as well. All the stars were sparkling, and calling for me.

This optimism held me through to the project's start. Miyuki, Ziggy, and myself were all dressed and ready. I was named Captain Mizrahi. Miyuki was called Communications Officer Itsumi. Ziggy was called... First Officer Ziggy. These names were mainly for fun, but they stuck for a while. Even Alby came along! We named him Official Animal Mascot Alby.

Though Miyuki had gotten nervous and jumpy at the last minute, the jump itself worked perfectly. Penelope entered a brand new, home-brewed column. It took over two days of travel (in which Miyuki was terribly bored), but we managed to make it to the other end without running into any obstacles. We reappeared in the Keltia region, and were ready to cheer.

But, what we found there was what my mother and Doctus had feared all along. Just like in the case of the saboteurs, I had been too naive to consider this possibility more than briefly. We forced out of the column in the middle of an armed skirmish which we later learned was between Galaxy Federation Government loyalists and a new political force called the Neo-Keltian Army.

I expected to drop out into the silence of space and approach Keltia peacefully, maybe even under the praise of the people there. But that was not the case. I was thrown off by the spray of beam fire and zipping machinery all around us. It had been three years since any of us had seen a battle. I guess I was rusty. About twenty smaller ships were fighting a federation cruiser, which had a company of auto-techs.

"A conflict," Ziggy said solemnly.

"What could they possibly be fighting about?" I wondered aloud, but before I could lend any hypothesis, we were contacted by one of the vessels on the side opposite the Federation.

_Identify yourselves!_ a gruff voice on the line demanded. _ Just who the hell are you guys?_

Though jarred by his tone, I responded immediately. "This is the Penelope, we are planetary re-alliance ambassadors from the Dammerung!" I said. "We have come to restore-"

_Dammerung?_ he scoffed. _What the hell are you talking about, lady? _Then their conversation was cut short by a wide range blast from a Federation cruiser. _Aw, dammit. Look, if you're not with the Federation, just stay put!_

"No, wait!" but the signal was cut off.

"Geez, what's _with_ these guys?" Miyuki whined, while dodging a volley of blasts that were directed at us from the Federation vessel.

"It's the only cruiser in the area," Ziggy noted. "I would assume that these are merely remnants... there is no way to tell what laws and principles they are working under in this situation."

"Right," Miyuki groaned. "A Federation vessel following the book would at least accept our hail! All I'm getting is rejection errors. I bet it's just a bunch of jerks who kept hold of a space cruiser after the big collapse."

"I hadn't considered that," I said, and I found myself forced to spend some of Penelope's anti-missile weaponry. I couldn't believe that I was actually firing weapons during what was supposed to be our big reunion with Keltia. "I hope that we will be able to put a stop to this fighting."

Luckily for us, the Federation vessels were much slower than Penelope. "Do they understand how much trouble we've been through to save their planet?" Miyuki complained as she zipped through the skirmish.

"No, they don't," I explained, sadly.

The comm systems crackled with the sound of the man's voice again. _Whoa lady, watch it!_

I took over navigation controls from Miyuki and saw that there were a set of unmanned droid units preparing to fire at us. Before the volley came, thankfully, our new friend wiped them out with a round from his ship.

_Watch it, gonna get your ass toasted. Are you seriously from the Dammerung, like... as in, you came from there just now? Another area of space?_

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "That's exactly what I've been trying to say!

There was a moment of deliberation. Perhaps the man on the other line was contacting his superiors. _Follow this beacon. I'll have someone waiting for you._

I looked up to Ziggy, asking with a glance if I should follow instruction. He nodded, and I allowed them to guide us away. I had no idea what we were getting into.


	10. The Path I

**Chapter 10: The Path I**

It was two years, two months in when we came across our first sure bet. It had been a while going, and our faith in our mission had been stretched thin. There were times, even through all of my big talk, when I honestly wanted to just turn around and try again when we had more to go on. _Run back home with our tails between our legs._ But together, we got through all of that, and we kept going.

There were bits of space dust and chunks of rock we found every so often. Hell if I can get anything out of rocks, but that's not what I'm here for. The professor and his team of assistants (as he took to calling the others) used these rocks to determine, somehow or another, the correct section of the star cluster, at least. I think that nailing down the right slice out of a pie as huge as the _galaxy_ still leaves a lot of ground to cover, but optimism was in abundance on that day.

We tested a few short jumps with the professors, erm... warp drive. It seemed like it would work, as long as we knew for certain that we would actually get to where we were going. In order to get to Lost Jerusalem, we first needed to know where it was in exact terms. The little clues that we figured out here and there along the way were not enough.

Then, something _big_ happened. None of us could believe it, and even now, I can only guess that it was chaos's sheer will that allowed us to find this thing.

It was a huge slab. A _huge_ slab. Though it was only a few meters thick, it was over ten kilometers long at it's longest point, and three kilometers at its widest. Ice frozen harder than stone had grown up all over it's surface along with bits of dust and crystalline substances, which made the entire thing look like a gigantic piece of rock candy.

We were assembled on the bridge quickly. We stood staring at it without a clue.

"What the hell is that?" Captain Matthews said aloud, voicing our collective thoughts.

"Shelley," I said, "zoom in on that thing. Get a look at the surface, could you?"

"Most of the structure is covered in material," Shelley explained. "Ah, here it is. I've sent a camera to view a small clean area. I'll put it on the screen."

The image that popped up at the front of the bridge resulted in a round of gasps and outbursts ranging from _huh?_ to some really colorful language. The structure was inscribed completely in those strange letters. I don't mean that they were written in scale to the size of the object, either. Each character was only a few centimeters tall at the most.

"Does that writing cover the _entire_ object?" I asked, gaping at it.

Shelley pulled up more feeds from other locations. "All of the areas that we can currently view seem to be," she said. "On both sides."

"Da-_amn_," was my reaction, "somebody sure had a lot to say!"

"It's the same writing as those tablets that MOMO interpreted for us," Shion pointed out, making sure not to let me think I was funny (but I _know_ that I'm hilarious). "Can't you read it a little?"

"Me?" I laughed. "I know a few words, but I don't think you want to rely on my translations even for a five-dollar bet."

"Dollar?" She looked confused at the word and then shook her head. "Whatever. Look, we don't have anybody on board that can read it."

"It's ancient," I said. "The Ormus used it some, that's all I know. Can't we look it up?"

The professor shook and stomped his feet as if he was going to explode from the suggestion. "Don't be stupid, assistant number six!" he grumbled.

"What? Why not? ...and hey, why am I number six?"

"If we could do that, we would have already done it!"

"Sure," I sighed, and ignored the Professor's ramblings. "So what do we need to do?"

"It's too big to bring in, obviously," Allen said. "We'll have to go out and take a look at it."

"Yes," Shelley added. "We will need to take physical samples to examine it further."

"And let's get that ice outta the way!" Mary added enthusiastically. "But you be careful, Little Master. You better not break it!"

"Geez, on my case before we're even outside..."

"Allen," Shion said, "You and I can go in Erde Blue."

"Mary and me will take the red one," I volunteered.

Shelley nodded. "Hammer and I will back you up respectively from here. The Professor and Scott will standby to advise."

It was settled just like that. We scurried quickly to the hangar where there were three AMWS available, with the basic colors of blue, red, and green. The Professor had outfitted them each with an Erde Kaizer reactor so that they were very much like my old Asher, sans Anima of course.

"Maybe I should name it Asher II," I wondered out loud as I climbed up to the boarding platform.

_I don't like it._

"Well, who asked you? Do you have a better idea? We can't keep calling it Erde Kaizer Red!"

_I agree on that much, however, wouldn't it be best to leave the names of those god-ordained tribes behind?_

"I guess you're right about that..."

_Really, Rubedo! Try and be a little more artistic. Let's name it after something beautiful, like... a woman._

I sat in the forward pilot's chair and scratched my hair. I couldn't tell if Albedo was being honest or if he was just trying to confuse me, or if he'd managed to do both at once through his constant practice. "What happened to the whole Macbeth bit?"

_We should call it Belle Peche._

"But it's _red_, stupid."

_We could paint it more... peach-ish._

"Hell no, you are not painting my poor AWMS pink!"

_Why not? Red and white makes pink, doesn't it make sense for us?_

"No!"

_It's a tribute to Ma Peche! Are you so sexually insecure that you fear a feminine color?_

"N. O. NO."

Mary kicked the back of my head as she climbed in. "Would you please stop bickerin' with yourself and pay some attention?" she nagged. "It's time to move!"

"Okay, okay!"

_I'm sure Mary would approve._

"No."

We took off along with Shion and Allen shortly and proceeded to the object. It was flat enough in some areas to stand on with the AMWS. Mary and I landed flat on it with both legs and used light suction in the feet to hold on and walk around. We began clearing away the rock and ice covering the structure with the vaporizer plug-in, while Shion and Allen picked up the pieces that brushed off for later analysis.

"This thing looks even more enormous up close!" Mary exclaimed, a little too close to my ears.

Shion spoke to us via a small video screen to the left of our field of vision inside the craft. "Can you imagine how long it would have taken to write this?"

Allen popped up just underneath her. "And from the way the thing is broken off in some areas, I'm betting this isn't even half of the entire structure."

"I'm more interested in what it was they were trying to write down," I said to them. "The other scripts written in this language were words of God. I wonder... this may be something really big... Lemegeton, the relics of God... who knows."

"You mean," Shion gasped, "You think someone may have attempted to physically _write_ Lemegeton?"

"Why not? Stone tablets last longer than data, obviously."

"Uhg," Mary groaned. "You're just admirin' them because you like books and junk."

"That's impossible," Allen said with a groan. "Lemegeton can't be actualized, let alone pronounced, by humans, it takes the entire Song of Nephilim system to use it... right? Even this piece wouldn't be big enough to encode the data of the program, either... it would be light years long."

"But chaos somehow gave those words to the people, once upon a time," I pointed out. "Maybe this is just the condensed version." I looked up to Shelley, who appeared in the right corner of our screens. "Shelley, make sure to record accurate and detailed images of every square inch of this thing."

"Yes sir," Shelley responded. "And please be careful upon blowing those chunks away," she added.

"The crevices in the letters underneath those bits of rock could contain matter from Lost Jerusalem itself!" the professor piped up from the back. "Don't let it all just drift out into space!"

"Gotcha," I confirmed. "I'm proceeding with extreme caution, okay?"

"Oh, and Little Master," Captain Matthews interjected, in a pleasant tone that meant he wanted something. "We can't take all of those rocks or the thing itself of course, because of the weight... but would you mind picking up a few of those geocrystals? It could help us out for uhh... fuel resources on the journey, yeah."

"Aren't you just hoping we get back home and you can sell these for millions?" Shion grumbled in annoyance. "I swear..."

I was more inclined to smile and laugh. "Okay, captain, I'll grab a few for ya. If anything, I'm glad to see you thinking about the future!"

"Yer damn right," he replied. "What, do you think I plan on dyin' out here?"

I grinned. Selfish though the thought may have been, it was good to hear. "You and me have the same idea, Captain!"


	11. Keltian Conflict II

**Chapter 11: Keltian Conflict II**

Under what seemed like a welcoming gesture, the Penelope was led to dock in this unknown group's base of operations. We watched what was going on as we entered. These people where fighting with freight ships, outdated and salvaged fighters, and anything that they could pull together. They were clearly civilians who had taken up arms. Why, I wondered. What would drive them to fight against their own?

A sudden aggressive action startled us, but by the time it occurred, there was little we could do. The docking clamps locked tight onto Penelope's hull, so that to remove her we would have to rip part of it off. A small ship like Penelope's structure wouldn't be able to hold with damage like that.

Ziggy stood behind my captain's chair and looked through the forward view screen until the moment it was shutdown. "I am sure that these are only extra precautions," he said, to try and ease my worries.

I was nervous. I sat poking my index fingers together and wondering exactly what I should do. Miyuki was just as jittery, but she was not as calm about it. "That's so rude!" she shouted loudly, then banged angrily on the navigator's console.

"Don't take it out on poor Penelope," I said. Miyuki was about to respond apologetically when I detected several people entering the ship from the docking gate. I jumped up from my seat in surprise just before the door to the bridge hissed open. It was too late to give any kind of warning.

A tall young man stood there with an apprehensive expression. At first glance, he reminded me of Tony, being about the same age and physical build. He was also similarly rough around the edges, but he was brunette. His uniform was only distinguishable as military outfit by an emblem that I could not find in my database sewn onto the front pocket and the right sleeve. He had a badge to indicate his status as well, apparently he was a captain. The others with him dressed in the same approximate color, navy blue, but there was little uniformity in their clothing. They all held rifles, though they did not point them at us for the time being.

"Sorry about this miss," he said. I recognized his voice as the one in the transmissions we interchanged earlier. He grinned, possibly to lighten the situation, and he seemed honestly apologetic. "I really don't want to do this, but I've been ordered to lead you folks to an area where you can be kept under surveillance. You understand, right?"

Ziggy stood protectively between the man and me as he approached with a group of armed guards. "We have come here under peaceful circumstances to restore this region," he said.

"That's absolutely right," I added, and stepped out from behind him. "You have no right to detain us after we've done nothing wrong."

"Huh," he muttered as he looked at me. "Wow, I was expecting an old woman," he said, and rubbed his chin. It sounded like a compliment, somehow. "If it was up to me, I'd have you up at the chief's place talking about your love and peace or whatever, but we're in the middle of a civil war here, and we can't take any chances."

I let out a deep, tired breath, then I looked up at Ziggy. "It looks like... we don't really have a choice."

"Hey, maybe they'll figure it out and let us go really fast?" Miyuki suggested, but she didn't sound like she expected to convince anyone, not even herself.

The man grinned once again and clapped his right fist to his chest. "Hey now, don't fret! I promise I'll make you're case and see that you're treated right. On my honor."

I smiled in return. It really wasn't that man's fault. "Thank you," I said.

Unfortunately, that was all that we saw of the honorable young captain for some time. Instead, we found ourselves aligned in three chairs facing a group of higher-ranking officials. We had been put into handcuffs "just to be sure," they said.

A man in a navy blue uniform that actually seemed tailored, wearing the same emblem embroidered on his chest, sat directly in front of us, surrounded on either side by two similarly decorated men, then another man in a medical uniform. I assumed he was a psychologist, there to analyze our story.

"Sorry for the rough treatment," he began in a kindly voice. "We can't be too careful. Now please, explain your presence here, and we will listen with open ears."

"We're from the mobile colony Dammerung," I said. "Ever since the Abel's Ark incident, we've been developing a new spacial jump drive that utilizes imaginary space. We came here in search of surviving civilizations to open a channel to the Dammerung and the few areas we are able to contact. We are very happy to see that Keltia is still alive, sir, but the idea of civil war is hard to take."

"You've created a jump drive system?" he repeated, astonished by the idea. "But the UMN..."

"The UMN still exists in a way," I explained. "The shift into imaginary space is not one hundred percent, which results in phantom matter appearing in hyperspace, but the odds of an accident are atronomically low."

"Yeah!" Miyuki added in. I let her work with her charm, which was explaining things simply. "As it turns out, the UMN is a natural part of the universe and um... Vector was monopolizing that in order to control us all! We figured out how to do it on our own, so we're here to share it with everyone!"

"It's possible," a technician said in a low tone. "An examination of their ship revealed that they have executed a gate out in the last few hours, but there's no record of Vector or the Federation UMN bureau at all."

"So," he answered, "I am to understand that you have no idea what has occurred here on Keltia in the past two years? You were just searching for your fellow man, and gated out in the middle of something?"

"Yes sir," I answered him. "That's exactly what happened. It's our goal to reunite the universe."

His eyes took on a glint of interest. "I see. Please tell me about what's been happening outside our area of the star cluster. We haven't had contact with any other planet in over three years. We were beginning to think that we were the only ones left."

"Fifth Jerusalem has formed a nation along with Third Miltia and a few of the neighboring planets that we are able to communicate with. The Dammerung serves as a messenger between these areas, but travel is still incredibly slow. Most of these planets are setting up systems like the one we used to reach Keltia as we speak. Eventually we will be able to reconnect with all of the planets in the former Federation that still exist."

"What's the status of the Galaxy Federation?" he hurried on.

"Oh?" I was taken off guard by the question. I failed to notice Ziggy's silent suggestion to keep some information to myself. I'm not used to saying anything but the truth when asked. "It's dissolved. A new parliament has been set up in it's place."

When I wasn't given another question, or any sort of answer, I asked one of my own. "Why do you ask? You are fighting against remnants of Keltia's GFG forces, isn't that right? Why is that?"

He looked at me with a stern expression and began to explain like a narrator telling a grim story. He cleared his throat and spoke. "It's a simple problem of power balance," he said. "After the incident, the Galaxy Federation leaders that remained on this planet came out on top in the anarchy that ensued. The Feds here knew that they would lose control of the population fast in the massive hysteria that broke out when the UMN collapsed. They responded to this threat by declaring martial law in every populated region. We were forced into submission. At first we believed that this was necessary. We needed their protection, so we allowed it. But two years later, only the upper ranks of the Federation had seen any improvement in their lives. They began to live off of us without the general public having any influence on their policies, like fat kings of ancient civilizations. So we revolted. That is why this war is being waged."

"That's awful," I replied. "Please, let us all get into contact with the Dammerung. If we let everyone know that they're not alone in the universe, and that order is returning, there won't be any reason to fight any longer."

"They would most likely reject it. Their priority is maintaining power, not restoring order at all."

I stuttered at that suggestion. "I can't believe that's true, why would anyone act that way?"

"That ship of yours," he answered, without considering my suggestion. "It's capable of executing short-range jumps?"

This time I did catch Ziggy signaling me to hold my tongue, but it was too late for that. "Listen to me, we have the means to put an end to your war!"

"Yes," he said. "I think you do."

We were escorted from the area and put into a holding room. It wasn't exactly a jail cell, and we were removed from our bonds. There were comfortable beds and cabinets of food. It was like we were locked into a hotel room. Obviously they didn't want to be hard on us, they just wanted us to stay quiet.

Miyuki stalked in front of the three beds impatiently while I sat on one with Ziggy, leaning my head onto his shoulder. I was tired from it all. "I hope Alby is okay," I whispered. "His dog bowl is automatic, but still..."

"I don't believe they would needlessly harm a dog," Ziggy replied, and patted my back with his gloved hand to comfort me.

"Who do they think they're messing with?" Miyuki complained very loudly to a random wall. "We've gone through Ormus fortresses and giant Gnosis and Vector high level security, and they think they're gonna hold us in a little suite?"

"Let's not act hastily," Ziggy replied. "If we prove to be an inconvenience, I'm sure the Neo-Keltians' hospitality will run out."

"I can't believe," I mumbled, laying against his arm, "I can't believe that we finally found Keltia... and they won't even cooperate."

Miyuki let out a grunt of frustration and began rubbing her hair into disarray. At that moment, we heard the sound of the door opening. When we looked up, the man who had originally brought us to this place stood there. He was wearing a huge grin that seemed oddly familiar. "Hey ladies, and cyborg!"

"Yick!" Miyuki sneered, as he stepped in and closed the door behind him. "What do you want? You people are awful, you know! Just awful!"

"Sorr_eee_," he answered sarcastically. "Look, I'm not supposed to be here right now. I heard a few bits of the story, and I don't very much like it."

"What have you heard?" Ziggy asked. I sat up and placed my hands in my lap attentively.

"I heard that you guys really are from the Dammerung like you said," he answered. "Not that I doubted you. You came here to save us all, right? And then I thought... why the hell are ya'all in this pen then?"

"That's what we'd like to know!" Miyuki spouted, and latched onto the captain's arm. She began shaking his limb vigorously. "Tell your chief to get his head out of his--"

"I'd like to, Missy," he said, reclaiming his arm. "But hey, I can't right out and say it! He's keeping a lid on the whole thing. If I had told him all I know, I'd probably be in here with you."

Ziggy stood up in order to speak to the man more clearly. "If gathered things correctly, then your leader may be about to make the same mistake as those he is fighting against."

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I don't really blame him. If we all had just a little more power... that's what we've been thinking for these past couple of years. If we just had a little more power, we could end this war and get the planet back on it's feet."

"What really has happened here?" I asked him. "Did the federation really dominate the planet?"

"Well, it wasn't pretty," he explained. "All I know is one day the Gnosis attacked us really badly. I was a local law enforcement officer in an urban area that isn't really there anymore. I did as best I could to protect that city, but it was pretty hopeless. The people themselves started turning into Gnosis who hadn't been touched. It was terrifying. And then, the UMN stopped working altogether. That was our only method of communication. We had no idea what was going on. So there I was, for months, trying to get people enough food to eat; and the Federation came in. Sure enough, they brought us food and water and they gave us some equipment to use, but at the price of that, we turned into the rough equivalent of slaves. We worked on whatever they told us to right when they told us to, or we got a gun barrel stuck in our face."

"We understand," Ziggy said. "Most likely, the Federation leaders decided that this was best for the world's restructuring."

"Yeah, although I hear that the reports of their squandering our profits are over-embellished propaganda for our cause," the man continued with a bitter laugh. "It's not like the other guys are evil, just don't like their way of doing things. Then those guys, the Neo-Keltians, stepped up and said they weren't gonna take it anymore. That's what all of us were saying, so us Keltians split into two, and we've been fighting ever since."

"I don't see what all this fighting will do for anyone," I said. "More people dying, I don't want to see it anymore."

The man smiled, and leaned over to look into my face directly. "Me neither," he said. "So what's your names? You can call me Roger."

"I'm MOMO," I said.

"Captain MOMO of the Penelope, isn't that right?" Miyuki added on.

"Oh, captain eh?" Roger replied. He reached out to shake my hand. "You realians certainly aren't what you look."

I smiled again, and looked up at Ziggy. "This is Ziggy, he's my um... my bodyguard, I guess you can say."

"And I'm Communications Officer Miyuki Itsumi!"

"Pleased to meet you," he replied. "Now why don't we see if I can get you the heck out of here?"

"You would do that?" I asked him, wide-eyed.

"It's true I hate what the Federation's doing," he said. "But I hate killing other Keltians even more, and a real man keeps his promises. If the guys up top are gonna turn your love-and-peace machine into a weapon, then I can't just stand back and watch. If you guys can get the word out, well... it'll be everything I've ever wanted since this trouble started."

I jumped up, brimming over with joy and renewed faith. "Okay! Let's go!"

He looked over at Ziggy. "We obviously this guy knows how to fight," he said. "You ladies got any combat experience? I hate to think of getting a couple of pretty ladies into a fight."

I looked at Miyuki, and she grinned back at me. "Oh, I think we'll manage somehow."


	12. The Path II

Note: Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful reviews! They make me feel fuzzy inside, yes they do.****

Chapter 12: The Path II

It took a almost a week to safely clear off the entire object, and collect everything that seemed important. We decided not to move on until we had analyzed everything that we could, but we were eventually going to have to leave this thing behind us. Too bad we can't just save the thing in the encephalon anymore, huh?

I sat next to Allen in the lab, and we were surrounded by rocks. Shion was making dinner, and the others were trying to make a translation for the language from the mass of letters we recorded.

"Look at all these shiny chunks of geocrystal," I said. "There were a lot of them on Rennes La Chateau, too. Don't you think that's a good sign that this thing really did come from Lost Jerusalem? And if it did, then the place can't be too far away, can it? We might not have to use the Professor's screwy time shift thing after all!

Allen sighed. "I hope we're not just reading into things because we need a sign."

"Don't be so pessimistic!" I cheered, and slapped him on the back.

"I'm just saying," Allen persisted, though I had forced a smile out of him. "You know... if Lost Jerusalem was really that close to the proximity of known space, we would have found it by now."

"What if it was hidden or something?"

"Yeah, and what if it's _still_ hidden?"

"Ha! That would be really funny if we passed it up already, wouldn't it?"

He shook his head and let out a deep breath. "You _would_ find humor in that..."

"Hey, hey," I said, and pulled out a spectacularly pretty chunk of geocrystal. "You could make a pretty nice engagement ring for Shion with something like this!"

"W-what?" Allen sputtered, and nearly fell backwards in his chair.

"Whoa, watch it," I chuckled. "Everybody knows it's coming, so why do you always get so freaked out when people bring stuff like that up?"

"Uh... habit, I guess."

I laughed and slapped him again. "Oh man, I'm glad you're around. You're my main source of entertainment."

"Yeah, same to you," he retorted. Then, I swear you won't believe this, but Allen got this clever look on his face like he had a flawless counter attack in mind. "Poor MOMO, all alone and waiting for any sign that we're even alive... She sure would love a gift like that, something to show that you're still thinking of her."

I don't really remember, but I think I just kind of stuck still with my mouth half open for a minute.

_I never thought that I would utter these words, but I agree with this guy._

"Don't you think it's better if I don't remind her?" I spat out after I recovered. "I'm not blind you know, but I just... In any case, I really don't want her to wait around, I mean... it's not really fair to her, is it?"

Then Allen watched with great amusement as my right hand moved on its own accord, grabbed a measuring stick, and began smacking me in the face with it.

"Someone has a guilty conscience," Allen said after a long whistle of feigned awe.

"Hey, you both shut up!" I barked, and grabbed my right hand with the left to stop the onslaught. "What do you want me to do, write her a letter? Make her sad?"

"Give her some hope?" Allen suggested.

_Yes, a letter! My dearest MOMO, how I've dreamed of your silken thighs and fresh white panties!_

That prompted me to clonk _myself_ in the head.

_Ow, watch it!_

After nearly dying from the resulting fit of laughter, Allen calmed down and cleared his throat. "Seriously speaking," he said. "I crunched the numbers down. Until a point where we jump into the Professor's warp for a long-term transfer, it is possible for us to send message pods behind us. It will take them the same amount of time or even longer to send them back as it took us to get this far, which means that MOMO won't receive it for another two years at least; but she _will_ get it eventually."

"You're for real?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, and nodded. "I think I'll send the data from these images to Juli Mizrahi. If MOMO could translate them, who knows?"

"Good idea," I told him, but I knew that he noticed the distance in my voice. "I'll think about what I want to tell MOMO..."

"Take a break," he said, and for once, patted me on the back. "Send Mary in, make her work on something for once."

"I'll do that."

Having been relieved of my duties, I wandered around the Elsa for a while before eventually poking my head into the kitchen where Shion was finishing dinner. I was spotted and she called out o me. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, um... I have a question. It's embarrassing. Everybody else takes it the wrong way."

Shion chuckled, but remained sensitive. "Oh all right, what's wrong? I'm not gonna tell anybody."

"I need to know what would be a good thing to make for MOMO out of that crystal stuff we got. She'd like it, right? A souvenir?"

"No problem there," Shion answered, "She treasures everything you give her, I know. She even tailors her outfits just to incorporate that bullet sometimes."

"Hm... yeah, but that's more like a good luck charm. And I don't really have anything meaningful on hand."

"Hmm," she threw off her oven mitts for a moment and looked up in thought. Then she smiled at me and pointed to my left ear.

"How about that?"

"Huh?"

"Why not give her that earring of yours?"

I grabbed at the piece of metal dangling from my ear protectively. "This little guy? I'd feel naked without this... it's like... it's... Little Jr.!"

"What? It has a name?"

"Yeah! It's Jr. Junior!"

"You know what," she sighed, "I'm not sure I know what she sees in you."

_Ditto._

"I guess it's a good idea, but... I wanted to make something _nice_ for her using those geocrystals since they are a momento from our journey."

Shion sighed. "Well... I know that MOMO really likes hair pins. I bought a set of them for her when we went shopping one time."

"All right, that sounds great! Now what uh... what consists in a set like that? You know, because this needs to be really cool."

I watched as she raised an eyebrow. "You're really going out of your way to impress MOMO..."

"It's not like that!" I answered defensively. "It's just I don't want to toss her something stupid, it's got to be really nice!"

"Geez, okay... you don't have to bite my head off. I get it, it's not 'like that' whatever _that's_ supposed to mean."

"Well. It's not."

_Are we really related, are you sure?_

"You shut up."

"What's Albedo saying?" she asked.

"Albedo says that I'm delusional, like he would know."

"Hm..." Shion looked at me sideways for a second.

"What?"

She responded by doing something that really frightened me, I mean scared me senseless. She flew at me with her arms open and embraced me so hard that I stepped back a few times and almost fell over. She squeezed me and spun me around.

"Wh-wh-what the hell are you doing?" I squeaked, and my face was probably as red as tonight's tomato soup that she was stewing.

"I'm your friend, right?" she said in my ear.

I gulped and nodded. "Uh.. yeah? Mind telling me why your chest is in my face, though?"

"I'm your friend and we're pretty close, so close that you're almost like my brother. That's true, right? If that's how you feel about MOMO, then why is it that when she does this you feel good and warm all over, but when I do this..."

"...I want to run screaming?"

"Exactly."

_Oh, but not me. _

Her point was made, but it didn't last for long. After that, my hand sort of... went for Shion's ass (totally not my idea), which resulted in me being chased out of the kitchen with a frying pan, and a lot of screaming.

"It was Albedo, I swear to god!"

"Well hold still so I can hit _him_ then!"

"No thanks!"

_Aha ha... You know... it's good to be alive._

I ran to the safety in the lower levels and sulked around a bit more before reaching the laboratory again. Allen had gone up, and was surely getting the tail end of the monster-Shion episode I had riled up unintentionally.

The Professor, Scott, Mary, and Shelley were looking over some of the information. "Dagnab it!" the Professor exclaimed, while flailing in the usual manner. "I just can't make sense of this at all! And how could it even have gotten here?"

"We never discovered exactly how that floating island made it to our territory of space either," Shelley noted. "Could it be that someone's will was to transport it here? If so... what method did they use?"

I stepped inside and decided to give my two cents. "The UMN is just a big field of imaginary space, right? If this thing is that important, maybe somebody launched it into space using a primitive form of the UMN?"

"You mean that they may have purposefully sent this out for some reason," Mary thought aloud. "Yer onto somethin' for sure!"

"I can't really say," I said, and took a seat on a table, "but don't you think... somebody might have wanted to keep Lost Jerusalem from getting lost? My bet is that this thing is a road map for the universe!"

The professor shook his head at me like something was itching him. "You're being way too optimistic, Assistant Number Six! Why is it broken, if this was so intentional?"

I shrugged. "Or... maybe chaos found it, broke off the address, and sent it here for us to find!"

He trailed off and started looking through his supplies for something. "Where's my wrench..."

"Can you read any of these words at all, Little Master?" Shelley asked me. "We have discovered a set of them that must form the language and number system. If you could give us any at all, we may be able to come up with a translation."

"Um..." I looked at the squiggly shapes that appeared on the monitors. "Some of them do look a little familiar..."

I decided that it was best for me to sit down and put my head to work on something useful. We made some developments, but it was obvious that this was going to take a while. Eventually Shion came in with dinner, which I had been too afraid to go up and eat at the time. She seemed calmed down now though, and smiled as she brought in hot a hot bowl of soup for me.

"How's it going?" she asked, as she set the tray down. "It's not like you to miss dinner. Have you got anything so far?"

With big circles under my eyes, I looked at the translated text. "Consciousness that accept Anima... that access anima... err, I think that's what it says... the power to equalize the flow of dispersal from the imaginary realm..." Then I clutched my head in my palms and began to yell. "What IS it? What's the trick to it?"

Mary sighed and looked at me in annoyance. "I'm haven't the foggiest clue what you're talking about."

"You wouldn't," I said, and laid my face on the table in defeat. "Maybe that's all this thing is. It took them that much just to let us know how to heal the Gnosis."

"Cheer up!" Shion exclaimed.

I looked up at the unusually chipper tone. "You're in a good mood..."

"The key to saving the universe is on lost Jerusalem, they told us that, right?" She leaned over my sholder and looked at my screen. "Consciousness that accept Anima," she mumbled to herself, then spoke aloud again, "Sounds like they mean us!"

"Oh? That's simply the 'Dear Elsa Crew' bit then?" I groaned. "What's all of this other stuff about?"

"How to get to Lost Jerusalem, and what we should do there. That's what I think it is."

The professor lifted his wrench threateningly. "Now you're starting to sound like Assistant Number Six!"

Shion just shrugged, which made me want to go pass out somewhere and forget it. "Listen to me," she said. "You know, the Zohar does not have a physical form right? Although we can see it and touch it, it is only there because we, on some subconscious level, want it to be."

"Yeah," I agreed, without any enthusiasm at all. "It's weird... we all see it the same way."

"So maybe this tablet is here because we want it to be, doesn't that make sense?"

"Not really," I flatly replied. "But it doesn't have to. It sounds like something chaos would say."

"That makes it even more likely, right?"

The professor cleared his throat. "It's true, many of these characters appear to be numerical," he said. "They do not form a spacial code as we know them, but it could be some sort of coordinates."

"Math is the universal language," Shelley added, "but even though we believe that we have deciphered the numerical system, we can't make much of it."

"Let me see this," Shion replied, and sat down at a terminal near mine. "Wow... this is not just a numerical code, this looks like seriously complex calculations."

"I'm a novice with super physics," I said. "That's what I've got Shelley here for. But still, isn't that formula relative to a high energy existence?"

"Yes," Shion replied. "It's a planck scale reading. Now I'm convinced, this couldn't have been written by the ancient civilization without some interference from an abnormal force. chaos's intervention might explain it."

"Well I'll be," the Professor hollared, and pointed wildly at the screen. "Whoo! That's it! That's it there, Lady Specialist!"

I scratched the back of my head. "How come she gets to be 'Lady Specialist' and I'm Assistant Number Six?"

"Okay then, Boy Assistant! Just be Quiet!"

"Sheesh..."

"What this is," the Professor went on, "Whoo-hoo! This is amazing!" Professor Scott joined in and began to jump around while the Professor slapped away at the consoles, although I doubted that he knew what was going on either.

"What _is_ it?" I growled, losing patience.

"It's a reading of a planet reduced to the planck scale, which is extremely difficult to observe even by modern science I might add, which explains of course, how Lost Jerusalem got lost!"

I groaned. "Oh great... couldn't it just be in a black hole or something?"

"Ha," Shion laughed. "Well you've got so much spare time, why don't you study physical cosmology?"

"I'll pass."

"Oh! Oh, Oh!" the Professor wailed. Scott began to hold onto his arms and I swear he was about to cry with Joy. "This recording suggests that Lost Jerusalem reverted from that physical existence!" the Professor went on.

"You can tell all of that from the numbers?" I scoffed doubtfully.

The professor turned to Shion and me, and he was suddenly silent. A glare from the monitor caught on his glasses. I was spooked for a second. "Yes," he said gravely. "I now know where Lost Jerusalem is."

My face twisted in disbelief and the hesitation to feel joy. "You're shitting me."

"No, I am not shitting you, Assistant Number Six!"

And so joy it was. "Awesome!" I exclaimed, and jumped in the air. "Where is it? How long will it take us to get there?"

"It's in a pocket of imaginary space both created and maintained by the dormant presence of the Zohar. Mother Earth is, for all purposes and intents, beyond the reach of any human beings who do not possess the information written on this stone. If we use the Warp Drive, it may take us... oh, five years."

"Five years?!" I sputtered. "Dammit!"

"Even if a wormhole somehow miraculously opened up connecting directly to that area, you wouldn't get there without bending reality or losing your mind, Boy Assistant! You've been spoiled by that infernal UMN, that's what it is!"

I ducked out of the swipe of a wrench. "Well okay, okay!" I apologized. "I'm very grateful, honest!"

"Can you work this out on your own and brief us on the specifics tomorrow?" Shion asked. "We're all really tired."

"Sure thing, Shion," the Professor said. "You get some rest now."

"There's no way I can sleep!" I said energetically. "I'm too excited! We're gonna get there, we really are!"

"Did you ever doubt that, Little Master?" Mary said? She and Shelley then grabbed either side of my shirt and began dragging me towards the door. "Come on, let the Professor work now!"

"Okay, okay, geez!"

Since I was unable to sleep, I stayed up for a while longer and attempted to write the letter that I meant to send you. I tried several times, but it never worked. The words that I wanted to say didn't look right on paper. I couldn't even get the greeting down.

"Dear MOMO. Hey, MOMO! Hello... MOMO? Dammit! None of this sounds right at all!"

_My dearest Peachy-muffin... you **are** eighteen now, right?_

"You are _not_ helping."

I crumpled a wad of paper and threw it over my shoulder, where it bounced off the wall behind me and into Mary's face just as she opened the door to my room.

"Don't you know how to knock?" I asked her.

She just unrumpled the paper and looked at it. I pretended that I didn't care. "How 'bout you try typin' it up instead of scratching things through a million times?"

"How about you leave me alone so I can think?"

"Fine, fine!" she picked up the fifteen wads of paper and walked out the door. "Always so nasty when it comes to MOMO, I swear... Hey, Shelley!" she called out to her sister down the hallway. "Let's go get coffee and read Little Master's crappy love letters!"

I sprung up and tackled her from behind, groping for the paper. "It's not a love letter!" Unfortunately she still had a height advantage over me, and so did Shelley. I never got those papers back, and retreated back to my room.

Later, since none of us could sleep at all, we had a party to celebrate the find. Shion and Allen announced that they planned to get married on the day we set off for Lost Jerusalem, which would be very soon now that we had that wealth of information.

Everyone got totally sloshed. Mary and Shelley spiked my drinks and laughed when I couldn't hold it. I still hadn't built up much body mass, so I guess it didn't take much. Sorry. Thanks to them, I can't remember a whole lot about it.

It might have been for the best though, because I remember sleeping well that night. I remember waking up from a deep sleep late the next day, feeling refreshed. I didn't worry about that letter to you anymore for some reason. I didn't need one. It seemed like somehow, everything had been taken care of.


	13. Keltian Conflict III

**Chapter 13: Keltian Conflict III**

Miyuki quickly came up with a security-scrambling program to aide in our escape. Using Roger's communications device, I uploaded it and we were on our way. We ran down the hallways, being as quiet as we could. We hadn't been spotted yet.

"That's some sharp skill, ladies!" he complimented us in a whisper.

Miyuki beamed. "Finally, somebody appreciates my help!"

"Shh," I hushed her.

She laughed an awkward "Sorry!" as quietly as she could.

"Listen," he said. "They already moved your craft to a different dock to be examined. I can get you there. Then you've got to take that thing and get out of here fast."

"Okay."

Then, we ran straight into a group of three guards. They hadn't noticed us yet, but there was no way around. Ziggy opted for a surprise attack, and signaled for Miyuki and me to follow up. Luckilly, the Neo Keltians hadn't been able to detect my little weapon, and no one wanted to search the "little girl."

Roger watched in astonishment as Ziggy felled a soldier in one punch, I knocked one out with zap from my gun, and Miyuki kicked one in the head twice over, all in synchronization before any one of them alerted their headquarters to the situation.

"Forgive me for going a little rough," Ziggy said to Roger. "They'll be all right if they are attended to soon."

"Uh, yeah," Roger replied. "Another unit checks in every fifteen minutes. Lucky for them, not so great for us at the moment."

Miyuki cracked her knuckles. "Well I needed to take that out on somebody anyway! Let's go!"

We went through more checkpoints, grazing the line between stealth and running for it each time. Finally, a group of five proved to be a little too much for us. I was the one who caused the problem. A bullet lodged itself in my leg. Without an ether circuit available at the moment, it wouldn't heal rapidly as usual.

"Hey, little miss!" Roger shouted in concern, though it seemed he had already forgotten to use my name.

"It's okay," I said, forcing myself to smile enough to relieve his worries through the pain of it. "I'm a realian, I won't feel it in a second."

Ziggy was right there worrying as well when the guards were dealt with. "I'll carry you."

"I got it," Roger chuckled, and slapped Ziggy on the back. "You need to be fightin' after all. Ziggy hesitantly agreed to that. Roger stooped over and promptly hoisted me onto his shoulders before I had much to say about what I would prefer. "You aren't slowing me down at all, you're light as a feather!"

I was a little embarrassed. "Thank you."

Pressing on, we reached an elevator. It went down for quite a distance. While on board, Miyuki looked at my injury. "It's stopped bleeding, but you're gonna need a medkit before you can walk properly again."

"I'm sorry for being such trouble," I apologized.

Ziggy shook his head. "No. It's my duty to protect you."

It's funny. Right then, I could tell he was thinking about you, and what you would say, your disappointment in him. But I think even you would have realized that it wasn't his fault. You probably would have thought it was great that I was using a gun (even though I know you dislike the energy kind).

"I've got a stick of gum," Roger offered.

Miyuki balked. "What is _that_ supposed to help?"

The man shrugged. "I dunno, it's got sugar in it, don't it?"

"I'll take it," I laughed. It was spearmint.

At the end of the elevator, there was a hidden dock. It was full of ships that were under maintenance and a handful of A.M.W.S. that the group had seized from the federation.

"There," Roger pointed, as we snuck inside. An alarm had been raised by this point, so we needed to hide. Penelope was there, no harm done to her, at least on the outside. There was no docking bolt in place. "You folks go ahead and get inside it. I'll cover you, then I can make my way across once you guys start the ship up."

A shout rang out. _There they are!_ and this was followed by gunshots. Ziggy began to run, carrying me along with him. Miyuki followed along, sure not to be left behind. Roger however, just stood where he was and started firing in the direction of anyone who approached us.

I looked back. "Stop! Ziggy! What about-- I don't think this is a good plan!"

"We can't stop, MOMO."

"But Ziggy," Miyuki said. Even with reservation in her voice, she kept running. Ziggy didn't answer.

We were just barely able to run across the hangar unscathed while Roger stayed behind, distracting the soldiers. Miyuki bolted inside to warm up the engines while I waited for him with Ziggy at the docking gate.

"Something is wrong," Ziggy said. "He should be coming."

"Roger!" I yelled, but my voice wouldn't carry across the fight. The communication device of his that Miyuki had used to hack the security was still in my pocket. I knew that he was still wearing the earpiece that went with it, so I desperately tried to reach him. "Roger!" I said. "Roger, come on!"

"That's my luck," he said. "I'm afraid I can't move."

"What's going on? Have you been shot?"

"Afraid so. But don't sweat it. I kind of expected something like this to happen. Good luck to you, Captain MOMO."

"But Roger, you have to, they will kill you!"

"I'd be happy to be the last Keltian to die in this conflict, little Miss."

Then the communications ended.

"Ziggy," I said and looked up at him.

"I'm sorry," he replied. "I can't go back for him."

"But they're shooting to kill, Ziggy! He's going to--"

They appeared around our side to fire on us, and Ziggy quickly pulle dme inside the ship. Bullets ricocheted off of the hull as Miyuki started up propulsion.

By the time we seated ourselves inside and began to fire back, the shots of Roger's gun had stopped ringing out. We couldn't detect him on any monitors.

"He is a police officer, MOMO," Ziggy said reverently. "He knows exactly what he is doing."

I sat in my chair, and felt that I didn't deserve to sit there. It was impossible for me to save that perfect stranger who had suddenly decided to help us. I had wanted to know him better. He didn't deserve to die so that I could live.

"I've rewritten the protection codes that they put in place," Miyuki said. "Are... are we ready to go?"

"Yes," I responded.

The Penelope, "love-and-peace machine" that it was, still had enough weaponry to bite back. It had weapons from a league above that of the old federation's. Once we were able to use them in our defense, the Neo-Keltians found that they could not hold us any longer.

Ziggy and Miyuki took the controls for me, while I looked for any sign of Roger. There were none. With some maneuvering and well-placed shots, we managed to escape the facility without taking any lives. Angry as I was, I didn't want to see any more Keltians die. My anger was with myself, anyway.

Though there was some pursuit, it wasn't nearly fast enough to keep up with us. Before long, we had escaped into hyperspace. The lasers and blasts were replaced by the cool rush of oblivion and everything together, the Unus-Mundus. I was not comforted by the fact that Roger's soul was most likely among those lights by now.

We were all silent. Miyuki got up to see that Alby was okay, and Ziggy stood motionlessly in his usual corner. The gum was still in my mouth, but I wasn't chewing it. The foil wrapper twisted between my fingers was imprinted with a slogan. _Keltia Kandies, since T.C. 4740 _ It was a piece of Keltia as it used to be.

Two years and six months after you were gone, the Dammerung appeared in Keltia space. It loomed outside of Keltia, turning the multitude of ships in the possession of the Keltians into a swarm of insects. We aimed the largest guns in the galaxy at both sides of the conflict, and we told them to settle down. I have to think that you would've enjoyed that, but I still wasn't having very much fun.

In our presence, both sides instantly submitted. There were a few obstinate leaders, but their attempts to rally the people fell upon deaf ears now that the universe had come back for Keltia. There was no more blood spilled on Keltia in the name of civil war.

A few weeks passed and everyone was getting what they needed without having to give anything for it. Eventually they would be able to rebuild their cities get back to their jobs. Normality returned with the Dammerung.

The Seraphim Sisters, we discovered, had been releasing songs on underground broadcasts during the conflict. They formed their own label and put a collection of their work since two years ago into production so fast that you'd think they were making army rations. They asked the project teams on the ground who was the big hero of the day. As a result, the musical group came to me and asked me, personally, what they should name their song. I couldn't think of anything.

"Love and peace!" Miyuki shouted, "LOVE and PEACE!"

So they took that as the title and it turned out to be a pretty good song. I took pictures with the girls to show to Captain Matthews when you get back. He'll be happy to know that they are still performing live on Keltia.

I met with important people, and I was on broadcasts. Miyuki and I showed up on magazine covers. It was really overwhelming. I had a fan club. I wish that Mary and Shelley had been there. Mary would tell me just what to do about this. But to me, it felt like I was walking through a hazy dream.

And finally... after a few months of all of this, the spotlight died down, and things kept improving on their own without the drama and the celebration. One night when I actually found myself with a moment of free time, I was visited again by Doctus, who has a penchant for showing up out of nowhere.

"Would you like some tea?" I asked her, and it was a joke.

"You're getting sassy," she replied, and flicked her hair our of her face with a toss of her head.

I pouted slightly at the teasing. "Mom's asleep and Ziggy is resting, so don't be loud. What do you need?"

"Just wanted to see how my big star is doing," she said. "You know that you're going to go through this on a good number of planets, right?"

"I know," I sighed, "but it doesn't feel right. Many people died here before we were able to come and stabilize the region. We should be honoring those people, not me."

"Don't look so down," Doctus told me. "People don't want to remember death and pain. You're doing them a service to take their mind off of it."

"I guess so," I said. "But isn't that the problem? We're separating from each other, trying not to get hurt. We're dissipating. Although our task right now is to give people hope... someday, we must teach people to embrace each other, and the will of the universe."

"Now, all of _that_ I just don't care about," she hummed. "How about Norveyga?"

"Hm?" my head popped up from my thoughts. "Norveyga?"

"Yes," she answered, and nodded her head. "Tomorrow we start prepping for a mission to planet Norveyga."

I made a muffled kind of grumble in my throat.

"What's that?" Doctus asked, and crossed her arms. "Wheres the spunk?"

"I mean," I said, and gathered my energy with a pump of my fist. "Let's go save those people out there!"


	14. The Path III

**Notes:** I was gonna be mean and wit until next week to update this since I don't have the next chapter prepared yet. I dowrite ahead of myself in case I get side-tracked so that I can keep updates consistent, but! **KOS-MOS rox** is gonna have a hernia or something if I don't post this chapter! XD So here it is, early!

I don't have enough space to thank all the reviewers individually (I tried, it took half the page) so I just wanted to say thanks to **Moonstone**, **Hybrid Rainbow, Sienna03, KOS-MOSrox, G-Anakin13, Navvy, Jehuty84, LittlePattenrond, crazycutie2, Rubedo Kukai Jr., dre-sensei, LittlePattenrond, Hikari-chan, Aura-chan Lunoin, Lady Nightmare, Noirblanc, vast-cerulean, rubedo's dragon, Inspired Seeker, Van the Key of Lain, **and** SkyPirateTat! **You are all great

**Chapter 14: The Path III**

We were sure to take our time before we jumped. If we messed this up, it would be five years out of the way for nothing. But, two years and seven months after the Elsa last left the Dammerung; since I had last seen your face, or the old man, your mom, or even my pet dog; the Elsa was finally ready to make its next stop Lost Jerusalem.

After everything had been recorded and all of the information for you was compiled, we built our capsule. It was a silly-looking little thing that Mary had taken the liberty of drawing a squiggly happy face on the front of. The professor put it together with a little engine that would get it all the way back to you in three years. It was strange t think that it would take so long to send our message, but I suppose it was better than nothing.

Mary and Shelley sent lots of letters to everyone they knew from the Foundation and Miltia. They sent Helmer a picture of them, but I didn't let them take one of me. I guess I thought maybe you would see it, and that scared me for some reason. I was already very different. I was a little taller, still very skinny, and not at all comfortable with the way I was growing. Looking back on it, I should have sent one, but I was just too... embarrassed, I guess.

Shion and Allen placed a little invitation to their someday-reception. "You are invited as guests of honor to the Uzuki-Ridgeley wedding reception, which will take place as soon as we see you again!" These were addressed to everyone of importance. The Mizrahi family (including Alby), Miyuki, Togashi, former members of Vector who worked with them, and even Allen's parents. Allen's folks also received a long and belated explanation of just where he was, why, and what he was doing. I guess his parents are strict. Must have been, to raise such a mild-mannered guy.

I think Captain Matthews actually put a letter in. That guy... I'll never get him. One minute he's blaring Seraphim Sisters, the next minute he's referencing Wagner. I won't be surprised if you end up telling me he wrote you a sonnet. Show it to me sometime, I want to see it.

I put in a small box that contained my gift. From the geocrystal gems that I selected and some tools in the lab, I made a set of hairpins for you. I don't know if you wear them anymore, but you used to wear barrettes often. I hope they don't look like crap. I tried to make them cute, but I don't really know anything about that. _Sure you don't._ I don't!

We saved the send off of our little mail carrier, and the start of the jump to Lost Jerusalem itself, for a special occasion. Allen and Shion had decided to carry out a traditional wedding right there on the Elsa.

We all got dressed in the nicest clothing that we had on board, which wasn't saying a lot for the crew of the Elsa. Showing up without their jumpsuits on was a big deal for them. Allen and I wore tuxedos that I got on the fly out of the generator, because I do have some class from time to time, thank you very much. Being nano-produced, they didn't fit us very well and they weren't very pretty. Mary borrowed one of Shelley's dresses and they showed up to be matching bride's maids. Shelley also had a beautiful white dress which she lent to Shion. Shion herself was hidden away from Allen's sight for the whole day as per the superstition.

Everyone huddled in the decorated Elsa Bar. Even the Professor and Assistant Scott cared enough to be seen outside of their lab for this occasion.

"Who's going to be the priest or lawman or whatever?" I asked the men, plus the Godwin Sisters.

"I'll do it," Matthews grunted. "The Elsa is my land, got it? I'll do the ceremony!"

"Fine, geez," I shrugged. "It's not like I'm trying to stop you."

"Are we ready?" Allen asked. He was shaking like a leaf. I could have knocked him over with my pinky.

"Whoa man, don't freak out now of all times," I laughed. "Look, this is just for fun anyway, right? Relax!"

"I know!" Allen nearly shouted, and then took a deep breath. "I know, but this is still the most important thing that's ever happened in my life."

"Little Master will get it one of these days," Mary interjected with a mischievous grin.

"Whatever," Matthews grumbled. "Where's the bride to be? I'm looking forward to the booze after the party. We broke out the expensive kind we've been saving up, just for you guys."

"Wow Captain," Allen answered. Though he wasn't a drinker, we all knew that this was the Captain's best expression of happiness. It sounded like he might have even found some weird kind of pride in Allen.

"Little Master!" Shelley nagged. "Go fetch Shion, would you?"

"Why me?" I asked in return. "Shouldn't you do it? I mean... what if she's not decent?" and then I kinda chuckled. Albedo was inwardly hoping that she wasn't.

"Oh stop being a pervert!" Mary scolded. "Look, somebody's gotta give her away, and you're her best friend here, right?"

"I am?" I mouthed. I hadn't realized it before. Outside of Allen, I was the closest person there to Shion. I grinned, taking no small amount of pride in that. "You got it!"

So, I raced back to Shion and Allen's room, nearly tearing my suit, and cracked the door open before I entered. I saw a sliver of Shion's back, and she had clothes on, so I entered.

She stood up in surprise, and what might have been embarrassment, as I entered. My mouth dropped open. She all dressed up for the wedding in a silky white gown and a veil. They had been acquired on short notice, but despite their simplicity, she was radiantly beautiful.

"Jr.," she gasped, and her cheeks began to blush. "I thought it would be one of the girls..."

"Well, I've come to give you away, milady," I answered, very smoothly I might add. _Sure, whatever._ Although, despite my undeniable charm (_read: lack thereof_) Shion took on that expression as if she wanted to hit me. _I wonder why?_

"Stop fooling around!" she nagged, then she blushed again. "Well... do I look good?"

"Good's not a word for it," I told her. "Allen's a lucky guy. Now let's go! Everyone's waiting in the lounge for us."

Shion laughed and took my arm. "Okay, let's go!"

I walked Shion through the hallway and then opened the door of the lounge. It had been decorated and arranged so that it barely resembled the diner where we ate our meals every day. It was white and sparkling, there were pink flowers everywhere. As soon as we stepped in, a bar droid began to play _Here Comes the Bride_ on... on himself, I guess, there was no piano that I could see. I could tell that Allen was about to wet himself at the sight of her, if he hadn't already.

To see his expression and Shion's coy reaction warmed my heart. I was surprised by that, and even more so by the thought that came next. I thought in that moment that it wouldn't be so bad being in Allen's shoes right now. Not with Shion walking down the isle, I mean. Maybe someone I haven't met yet, or at least someone who I could learn to love in a new way. _Your girl next door, the one you left behind._ Then suddenly I remembered that you once said something about being a good wife one day, that your mom and Ziggy would be proud. _Aw, so adorable, Ma Peche!_ I don't know why all of these thoughts came rushing to me like that. They seemed pretty unrelated. _Do you honestly believe all the foolishness you're spouting? Get a grip, Rubedo!_

Once we approached Allen, I dropped off to the side, and he took hands with Shion. Captain Matthews cleared his throat, and the ceremony began.

"We're gathered here today to join this two in holy matri... well, just plain matrimony, really." He remembered this from movies and such without having ever actually studied the rules. "Oh yeah. Now, is there anybody here who has any reason why these two should not get hitched? Speak now, or keep your trap shut from here on out."

Nobody spoke, but the Godwin sisters were already sniffling a bit.

"Okay then. Well. Do you, Allen Ridgely, take this beautiful creature here as your semi-lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Allen managed to answer, without squeaking or passing out. I was impressed.

"And do you, Shion Uzuki, take this whimp, this pathetic loser, this... insanely dedicated and patient man, as your husband?"

"I do," Shion replied.

"Then that's the end of that!" Matthews announced. "I declare you two husband and wife. Now kiss and make it a good one!"

"You forgot to get them to change their rings, stupid!" Mary scolded him.

"Oh right!" He exclaimed, and smacked himself in the head. "Well switch rings and smooch already."

"Here," I said, and held the rings out to both of them.

"Wait, is this one mine?" Allen asked. "Or is this the one I'm giving to Shion?"

"Whoops," I said, and crossed my arms over each other. "Wait a minute, these are identical anyway!"

"You're the worst ring boy ever," Shion laughed, as she handed Allen his ring, and took hers from him. Then I stepped out of the way, this was gonna be good.

Allen bent down, initiating the move, much to our surprise, lifted her veil up, and kissed Shion passionately. Their embrace lasted for a long, sweet, moment, and then ended with a shout. "Yes!" Allen shouted, picked Shion up by her waist, and spun her around. "I love you, Shion Uzuki-Ridgeley!"

"Well how 'bout that," Matthews said in approval, and smacked me on the back.

Mary and Shelley popped open champagne bottles, and the droid began to play a wedding march. Tony and Hammer hooted and whistled, but Tony did manage to avoid making a crude comment for at least a little while. The Professor and Scott held a noise-maker in each hand and began to spin them and blow party whistles until the old guy winded himself and had to cut it out.

I just gave Allen a firm slap on the shoulder. "You did good, buddy," I said. I'm not sure that he heard me, or if he needed to hear it anyway. For a good while after that, he was totally absorbed in his new wife.

The partying and the dancing went on long after that. We had fancy food, a big wedding cake, and all except for me had a whole lot of booze. I'd learned my lesson from the last party.

At the end of the night, Shion and Allen together pressed the ignition button to send our mail delivery capsule back towards your region. We watched it fly out of sight. Then, we turned ahead to face the future.

We initiated the new leg of our journey, the path to Lost Jerusalem.


	15. Father

**Chapter 15: Father**

More time passed. Before I knew it, was the third anniversary of the day you left. I didn't remind anyone. I'm not sure if anyone except for me even remembered the date. I did end up celebrating a reunion that day, though it wasn't with you.

We had successfully made contact with thirty-two planets in that span of a year. The process was getting faster, so our goal for the next year was one hundred-plus. Very few of these were any easier to stabilize than Keltia had been. I did have the chance to ride down a street and be showered with flower petals one time, without any incident. But what I saw more of was violence fueled by fear. The fear of separation, the very fear which drove human beings to strive for Wilhelm's ends. This fear, in some cases, led to rejection. Many people chose to literally reject the universe, and remain on their isolated little planets where they had obtained power and control.

Because of that human flaw, my job shifted to a more diplomatic role. It was tiring after a while, but we pressed on. I found myself going on missions less and less, working in alliance-building more and more. I let the project's many dedicated teams handle it in the teal-colored mass production model ships based on Penelope.

On that particular day, I went with my mom, Ziggy, and President (former representative) Helmer to the space station to greet diplomats from the Gadalya System, which we had just regained contact with a week earlier. They were doing well in the absence of the UMN, surprisingly. Before joining the new government, they wanted to speak to us personally. It was my job to help convince them that our government was stable, and that our light for the future would not soon burn out.

When we arrived at the port, we found that the representative had fallen ill and had not traveled that day.

"They could have sent us a message," my mother said, in that biting tone that she often used, but never with me. "Have they any idea how pressed we are for time?"

Helmer took the situation more lightly, as was his style. "At least it was an excuse for me to clear my schedule. I could use a vacation, even if it's only for a few hours."

Ziggy is one of the few people I've ever seen take on an expression of humor without actually smiling. He looked at my mother. "You could, too. We should call this a mixed blessing and take the opportunity to relax."

Her mood suddenly flipped around. "Yes, I'm up for going back to the hotel and ordering dinner."

Helmer laughed. "Ha ha, I'll leave you to that then. It was nice seeing you all, at any rate."

I was yawning myself as I watched them talking, and then something caught my eye. Though the representative from Gadalya had missed the flight, there were hundreds of regular civilians disembarking from the ship. A crowd of eager families, friends, and other relations stood waiting for those who would soon come out, to be reunited with those they had not seen in five years. It was exactly that kind of scene that recharged my energy for the project.

Even more interesting, there was a familiar face in that crowd of people waiting. It was Miyuki. I hadn't seen her outside of a working environment in so long, I really wanted to go over to her and say hello.

"Hey Mom, Ziggy," I said. "That's Miyuki over there. I'm going to go talk to her, okay?"

"Sure," Ziggy replied. "We'll go back to the hotel."

"I hope to see you again soon!" I said to Helmer. He smiled. The group said their goodbyes and parted into three directions.

Miyuki turned as I approached. "Hey, MOMO!" she greeted me. "I didn't expect to see you here!"

"The diplomats I planned on meeting took a rain check," I explained. "Are you waiting for someone? Do you know someone from Gadalya?"

"You could say that," she grinned awkwardly. "Actually, I have no idea if he's going to be here, but..."

I watched in awe as a man walked up to Miyuki and, without warning, scooped her up in his arms. He was a large man, not terribly tall or fat, but just thick overall. His age was hard to pinpoint, but he had some grey in his beard and a streak of it on either side of his head. Outside of that fact, he looked very much like Miyuki.

"Hi Daddy!" Miyuki said in an even higher pitched tone than usual, possibly due to being squeezed so hard.

"Hi Daddy?" he scoffed. "Is that all you have to say?"

"What do you want me to say?" she complained, and attempted to pry him off of her. "Geez... it's not like I thought you were dead or anything."

"How would you know? I could have been offed by some Gnosis at any time!"

"The Gnosis are probably more scared of you than you are of them," she grumbled, but he had already turned his attention elsewhere.

"Hey! Who's your friend?"

"That's right!" Miyuki answered, glad for an exscuse to get out of his crushing embrace. "MOMO! I'd like you to meet my dad!"

"Pleased to meet you," I said, mirroring the smile that was on both of their faces. It was no question as to where Miyuki's energy came from. "I never knew that you had a family, Miyuki."

"Well," Miyuki groaned, and began to fidget in an uncomfortable manner. Then she leaned over and whispered something into my ear. "Daddy's a bit over protective. To top that, he doesn't like Togashi at all!"

"Oh, I see."

The man laughed a hearty, boisterous guffaw. "What are you whispering about, Miyuki?"

Miyuki covered quickly and was laughing it off the next second. "Oh, I was just telling her about how I haven't been able to speak to you since before the planets disappeared!"

"I consider myself lucky!" he said, then faced with Miyuki's disgruntled reaction, he hurried on. "Oh no, not because I'm so far from my pumpkin!"

"Yeah, I think I'm the lucky one there," Miyuki grumbled under her breath. I had to suppress a giggle.

"I'm lucky that my planet was unaffected by the major disappearance! It's just my dumb luck."

"I'm happy to hear that," I said honestly. "So many people lost their parents back then."

"Oh, I know," Miyuki said, and I was surprised to hear a tone of true regret in her voice. I had to wonder where her mother was, and if that was the source of this reaction.

"I can relate," I said, trying to lighten the mood. "So do you live by yourself, Mister Itsumi?"

"Itsumi?" He laughed. "That's her mom's last name, we were divorced a long time ago!"

"Oh! How rude of me!" I exclaimed. I remember how my cheeks were flushing and my face was burning with the worry that I had offended my friend's father, but he just kept smiling and laughing.

"My name is Victor Ozu, but you can call me V-kun if you like!"

I was a little unsettled by that, but luckily Miyuki intervened before I was forced to respond. "Gee, I wonder why I didn't take _your_ name," she mumbled sarcastically. "You haven't changed at all! You see a pretty girl and you can't stop spouting stuff like that!"

"Don't you think this little one's just a bit too young for your old Daddy?" he laughed. I laughed too, though his words stung a small part of me.

"MOMO's not any little girl," Miyuki said firmly. "Look, she's my superior on this project, believe it or not!"

"Oh yeah, you're right!" he said, staring straight into my eyes for a moment. "This girl's a realian. I get it now!"

"_God_, Dad... you're such a jerk sometimes!"

"No, no," I said, raising my hands passively. "I'm okay. It's true, I am a 100-series Observational Realian."

"Oh, that's impressive!" he said. "Hey, can you tell me my height and weight?"

"_Daddy!_" Miyuki scolded him loudly, but I smiled at her to let her know that it was fine.

"Not only that, I can analyze your DNA itself just by looking."

He stared at me, wide-eyed in awe. I felt myself blush again, but this time it was out of modesty. "How about that!" he said, then he cleared his throat into his hand and gave us a grin. "Well, Miss MOMO. Pleased to meet you too. Would you ladies like dinner? On me!"

Miyuki whispered to me again. "You don't really have to come."

I smiled. "I'd love to," I replied. "Let's go eat."

The rest of the evening was such a good time. Miyuki and Mr. Ozu both drank a bit, and if not for the establishment refusing to serve me alcohol, they might have ordered some more in hopes of making me drink it (if only to have more for themselves when I inevitably refused). I suddenly thought of Captain Matthews, though they were nowhere near _that_ drunk. It was just enough for both of them to be a little more honest.

I could tell that Miyuki really did love her father, though she spent the evening bickering with him and complaining about his womanizing habits. At the end of the dinner, Miyuki made him promise to take her shopping the next day.

After the dinner, Miyuki and I decided to walk back to the hotel where she and I both were staying until the Dammerung returned from its current objective. For some reason, I remember that conversation very well.

"Why did you agree to go with us?" she asked. "You could have gotten out of it easy."

"I enjoyed it, really," I answered. "It was fun to meet your father."

"You miss your dad, huh?" Miyuki replied, in a rare moment of dead-on empathy.

"Yes, I'd do just about anything to see him again."

"Same for my mom," she said. "We all have people like that."

I nodded solemnly.

"Hey, don't you call your dad 'daddy' too?" She giggled. "Everyone always picks on me for that!"

"Oh, I do!"

We were both giggling, laughing, like two young women friends ought to do. I wished that Shion and KOS-MOS could be there with us.

Had you found KOS-MOS yet, I wondered. Was she okay? Were Jin and chaos there, and what were they doing? I liked to imagine the three of them together, exploring a new planet and having their own adventures until the day that you would arrive to pick them up.

But things didn't turn out that way... did they?


	16. Action Party

Author's note: Please exscuse the random stupidity of this chapter. Jr. is the narrator, blame him! XD

**Chapter 16: Action Party**

Not surprisingly, the journey didn't differ very much after we set off than it did before, when we were traveling under normal propulsion. I was still bored as hell, and everybody was up to the same tricks. What a disappointment! Where's the action? Where's the adventure? I thought that going with these guys would be exciting for sure!

_Yo, calm down there, Rubedo. I was taking a nap._

Don't you do anything but sleep? Why do you even _need_ to sleep?

_Because, residing in your consciousness is exhausting._

Oh yeah? If it's so unbearable, I ought to kick you out at the first stop!

_Now I know why Nigredo pushed me in here. It's punishment._

I'm trying to narrate here, jackass.

_Oh my! Go ahead then, certainly she likes hearing about how bored you were, over and over again!_

Anyway. We flew onward until one day in the third year since we left the Dammerung, we came to an unscheduled stop. Once again, we met on the bridge to see what was the matter. Captain Matthews sat there in his chair with a silly grin on his face. That's always either a good or a very, very bad sign.

"Why are we stopping?" Shion asked him.

"Well, it's about time you and Allen had a proper honeymoon, right?" he responded.

This set off another Matthews alarm, caring about what Shion and Allen wanted to do. "Yeah right," I said, not buying his act, and crossed my arms over my chest. "What's up, for real? Time's a wasting!"

"Well," Matthews explained, "there's a nice, inhabitable planet down there, and I figured why not get out for a while and stretch our legs?"

"Hm," I considered, "So is it true that even you get sick of this ship sometimes..."

"Aw, don't say that about the poor Elsa," Matthews answered with a tone of genuine guilt. "It's just that sometimes I'd like to see her from the outside! We could clean her off, I'm sure she's collecting space dust by now."

"Ha ha... If washing the hull is your idea of fun, I don't want in on it."

"Well I think it's a great idea," Shion chimed in. "What kind of environment does this planet have?"

"Various, with abundant plant and animal life," Hammer replied. "We can set down on a tropical island, or a snow field, whatever you want!"

"Let's go to the beach!" I suggested excitedly. "This will be fun!"

"I agree," Shion said with a laugh. "Let's go with the tropical option!"

"What do we have in the tropical category, Hammer?" Matthews asked.

"I'm reading a nice island down there," he replied.

"Give me the course!" Tony hollered. "Let's go!"

We flew down to the planet and the hatch opened for the first time in three years. Everyone was quick to scurry out of the ship in their swimsuits and sandals, carrying chairs, tables, coolers, grills, beach balls, and other things. Everyone was yelling and laughing, they looked as if they might kiss the ground for joy.

But I was not so sure. "Stopping like this in effect could take years off of our journey," I thought. "It's a drop in the bucket, but still..."

_Relax, Rubedo. At least let me have a vacation even if you're going to mope around._

I sighed. "Okay, I'll lighten up."

Shion came over to me and smiled. "Cheer up!" she said. "Look, it's a beautiful place, isn't it?"

I forced myself to return her expression and stretched my arms. It was really good to be out of the ship. This island was a perfect location. The sky and the water were blue as blue could get, the sand was warm and golden, and the tropical forrest that covered the island was thick and emerald green. The sound and the smell of the ocean and the wind were refreshing, unlike anything I had experienced in years. "Yeah, let's lay back," I said with a grin.

As I looked around, I found Matthews setting up a grill to make burgers or maybe even steaks, Tony and Hammer were working on setting up a beach ball net (they probably didn't even want to play, they were more interested in watching the girls jump around), and Shelley was managing the drinks. Even a few of the droids had jumped ship. "I wish we could have stopped somewhere inside Federation territory," I said, "then at least we might have met some other people."

"Jr.," Shion chided gently. She was about to say something more when we were interrupted.

"Banzai!" Mary shouted in her heavy accent energetically, and pounced at me. I fell over underneath her and ate the sand. Then, much to my protest, she began tickling me in all of the places she knew I was vulnerable. "You better stop yer moping!"

"Stop! Stop! I give!" I laughed, and wrestled her off. She relented, seeing that I was smiling. "It's just that..." I trailed off, after she let me be. "Maybe it's just that Gaignun used to like beaches. We even built one on the foundation together."

They all fell silent for a moment with thatreminder. "Stop it, you're making me sad!" Mary finally wailed. "Now come on and swim with me!"

Allen and Shion laughed and followed along as Mary dragged me off to the ocean's edge whether I liked it or not. Soon we were all having a good time and splashing at each other, regardless of my initial bad mood.

After playing around for a while, Mary left me alone to play beach ball with Shelley, Hammer, and Tony (who promptly had their asses handed to them). Allen began taking pictures of everyone hanging out, while Shion was sunning herself. I decided to sit by Shion and just relax for a while.

"It's been a long time since I got a tan," she said.

"Is that supposed to make you look better?" I chuckled. "Girls worry about some stupid stuff."

"I don't see you doing anything more productive," she laughed back at me. "You should get a hobby or something."

"Like what?"

"Hey, I had an idea I've been meaning to tell you," she answered, and then sat up to take a sip of her drink and talk to me directly. "You like to read books, right?" She laughed. "Have you ever tried writing one?"

"No..." I answered, and mumbled off a bit in thought. "Well... I've tried it before, but it was never any good. I never showed it to anyone."

"What? That's not like you at all," she laughed. "Hey, you're bored, aren't you? You can even write it about us. It would be fun!"

"I think what all of us have been through is too weird even for fiction," I answered. "But that's an idea. Um..."

"What?" she asked.

"If I do," I started hesitantly, "would you read it first? And not tell anybody about it if it sucks?"

"Jr.," Shion said in dismay at my uncharacteristic timidness, and shook her head. "You're so weird sometimes." Then she smiled. "Sure, I'll help you."

"Awesome," I said. "This could be pretty fun!"

Allen approached us with the camera and fit Shion's form perfectly into the frame before snapping it. "Great picture," he said with a big stupid grin. "Come on, I could take some _action_ shots if you want."

"Sheesh man, I'm right here!" I complained.

"Oh, hey Jr.," he said.

"Don't 'oh hey Jr.' me like you didn't notice me sitting around!" I laughed.

Allen shook his head in dismay. "Don't tell me you're so bored you're out here getting a tan."

"Give me that," I demanded and reached for the camera. "We don't need a bunch of shots of Shion's rack!"

_I beg to differ._

Allen held the camera up over his head out of my grasp and I began trying to climb him like a tree to get it from him. Shion was laughing her guts out at all of this while the others were beginning to take notice of the argument.

Then there came a sound like a great muffled pounding on the land. It was soft, in the distance I guessed. Allen and I looked up from our play for a moment. "Well that's weird," Allen said.

I figured it was nothing and snatched the camera away in his moment of distraction. "Ha ha! Now you get in the picture with Shion, I'll take one!"

But when it happened a second time, I knew that something must be wrong. I looked away from the ocean and into the forests just as Allen was doing. "You're right, something is there..."

As the sound continued, Shion stood up, and the others came to gather around us as well. I looked at the drink sitting on the beach table next to Shion's sunbathing chair. It was shaking, little rings went through it with each thunk.

"Aw man," I chuckled, and reached for my guns. "I saw a movie JUST like this one time, this is gonna be awesome!"

"What is it?" Allen asked. "A volcanic eruption? You think you can just shoot at it?"

Shion sighed deeply. "Why is it you keep your guns on you even in your swimsuit?"

"Oh, you're gonna be thankful for it this time!" I replied.

"Doesn't water ruin them?"

"Little Master," Shelley said, "It's highly unlikely that--"

Then there was the enormous roar of a gigantic creature

"What the heck is that?" Allen shouted, growing extremely alarmed and nervous. "There's some kind of animal causing this shaking?"

"It can't be a Gnosis," Shion said, obviously. "An experimental creature, maybe?"

"I've never heard of one that big before!" Mary exclaimed.

"I would say that such a thing doesn't exist," the professor agreed. "Perhaps it's an animal operating a vehicle of some sort..."

Assistant Scott nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, like a bear riding a unicycle!"

"No, not like that!" the professor wailed back at him in exasperation. "More like a lab rat piloting a giant robot!"

"I think the unicycle bear makes more sense," Allen answered to that.

"You're all wrong!" I shouted back at them gleefully, and raised my guns in the air. "Ha ha! That's a DINOSAUR!"

"I swear, you're so stupid!" Mary scolded. "Dinosaurs aren't real!"

"Actually, they were," Shelley corrected her like a school teacher, despite the sounds growing louder and more frequent, causing everyone's anxiety to heighten. "They simply went extinct when a meteor--"

"That's not the point!" she snapped back at her sister. "The point is, it's not a damn dinosaur!"

But to her chagrin, a lizard several stories tall reared its ugly head out of the thick trees that covered the island. Everyone's reaction to this unlikely situation was initially more of disbelief than fear.

"What the hell?" Mary barked, angry that I was right. I was so totally right, haha. _Shut up, you're still a moron._

"I can't believe it!" Shion gasped. "That Jr. was actually right, I mean!"

"Hey!" I retorted in offense. "I'm right a whole lot more often than you see dinosaurs around!"

"That big damn lizard is after my burgers!" Matthews grunted, and began throwing his stuff back together. "Everyone back in the ship, we're outta here!"

"No way!" I protested, twirling my guns in my hands. "I am not cutting my vacation short because of some prehistoric asshole, just leave this to me, okay?"

"You are not serious!" Shion replied.

I licked my lips and reveled in the long-made-rare opportunity to say something cool. "I am so serious that it's hurting me!"

_What does that even **mean?**_

As the dinosaur approached, I identified it as a tyrannosaurus, with a giant head and stubby little arms. It loomed up over the trees and birds flocked away in distress. It obscured the sun and cast a dark shadow over our beach set as it raised its head into the sky and released a deafening roar.

"Well you go an' get killed if you want, but I'm leavin'!" Mary shouted, then she and Shelley sprinted for the ship along with Hammer, Tony, the professor, and assistant Scott.

"Uh... well... watch my burgers," Matthews said to me, before retreating. Allen grabbed Shion and pulled her back to safety as well, though the two of them were brave enough to stand outside and watch.

_What, do you miss Gaignun so much you want to send us prematurely to the afterlife?_

"I'm not taking that from any dead guy," I retorted, and raised my pistol at the gigantic beast. "Come on, you party-wrecking son of a bitch! Make my day!"

The giant's foot lifted up and slammed into the beach, sending our tables and chairs flying. It lowered its head and snapped it's mammoth jaws into the spot where I was standing, but I leapt out of the way and it ate nothing but sand.

I ran and leapt as high as I could, spraying my guns in its face. It lifted its head out of the sand and smacked me hard with its snout while I was midair. I felt every part of my body bruise all at once, and I was flung out into the trees. Luckily I didn't break my neck, the branches were thick enough to buffer my fall.

Shion watched this in distress. "Allen, let's get in the Erde Blue!" she suggested.

"Right!" he agreed, and they raced into the Elsa for the AWMS hangar. "I wonder how many couples say 'honey, get the AWMS!'" Allen laughed.

She giggled at him in response. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

I raised myself up from the forest floor and grinned through the pain. I felt lots of cuts all over, but no broken bones. The big lizard had already suffered the loss of an eye, however. "Yeah, you didn't like that, did you?" I taunted him.

_Why are you talking to the dinosaur?_

"Try this one on for size!" I shouted, and aimed my guns back towards the beach where the T-rex was shuffling to turn itself about and attack at me again. "Moonlit Serenade!"

For the first time in three years, the actualization of my ego surged through my body and fired from my weapons in the form of a bright beam. I had tried to practice it before on the Elsa, but I could never summon the power. It took a real fight to draw it out, a real opponent. It felt amazing, it was refreshing like the air and the sea.

Lizard or not, that bastard was going down! _Yes, I'm quite sure the dinosaur was illegitimately conceived, Rubedo._ The beam struck it dead on, and it reared back in pain. The hangar door to the Elsa dropped open and Allen and Shion skidded out in their blue mech. "Stop it and get inside the ship, Jr.!" Shion pleaded from the speakers as she reached out to hold the lizard in place by its tail with the arms of the AWMS unit.

But that dinosaur must have had a thing for red-heads or something, because though it recognized the imminent threat of the Erde Blue, it kept on chasing after me instead. It broke out of their grasp and sped back into the trees where I was currently positioned. It swiped its tail across the ground, uprooting trees and sending them into the air. I was nearly crushed by the attack, but I managed to avoid it by the skin of my neck by laying flat in a recess in the ground.

I jumped back up and threw a handful of coins at him to initiate my special attack! "Storm Waltz!"

"Don't tell me he keeps change in his swim trunks," Allen groaned and smacked his head into his control panel. Shion shared his sentiments and slapped herself in the forehead.

The bullets ricocheted around the beach and struck the monster again and again from all angles until it gave out its last roar of defeat and plummeted to the ground.

"Ha ha!" I laughed. "Sayonara, baby!"

Shion and Allen surveyed the damage from their cockpit. The dinosaur was very much dead.

"Way to go, Jr.," Allen grumbled. "You just exterminated an endangered species."

"Aw, shut up!" I shouted back up at the mech. "It isn't like anybody needs dinosaurs! All I did was re-extinctify it!"

"You just killed an innocent animal for no reason!" Shion exclaimed.

"No reason? It was trying eat me!"

We continued to argue about what I had done and who was going to clean it up. After I was forced to drag the carcass into the forrest, Mary and Shelley tended to my injuries while the Elsa crew set their barbecue back into place. Eventually the beach was safe again, though I had to agree that if any more dinosaurs came along, I was not allowed to hurt them.

We were carefree and happy for the rest of the day, and we spent the night speculating on how the dinosaur could have appeared there. We came to the conclusion that this unmarked planet once served as a home for an illegal Lost Jerusalem animal breeding grounds. It was most likely the pet of some rich crazed person who no longer had access to this far-off world.

"I feel bad for killing it now," I said in reflection, as we sat around a fire on the shore. The stars were sparkling overhead. "But there must be more where that came from. Maybe they will be the rulers of this planet."

"You shouldn't shoot things without thinking first like that," Shion said.

"Well," I laughed, and stretched my arms. "At least this way, it died with honor as a great opponent. Maybe it would have died anyway, there doesn't seem to be much food on this island for it. So it was him or me... survival!"

"I think you're romanticizing this a bit," Allen groaned.

And I do feel pretty stupid now, but it couldn't be helped. Cooped up for so long, my blood was just boiling.

Looking back on it, that was really my last great moment as a boy. The next time I saw a battle, I was a grown man. I'm not complaining, no... it's about damn time. But I do miss having that old defense, "boys will be boys." It was nice having the excuse to remain innocent, a cover-story for my childish behavior, but it was finally time for me to act my age.

To even my own surprise, I wasn't eager to move on. But as always, we packed up our bags and went on over.

* * *

_"I am so serious that it's hurting me!"  
Alternate extra-brick line: "I'm totally serial!"_


	17. Grown

**Chapter 17: Grown **

It had been four years and one month since I saw your face. I wondered often how much it had changed. I knew that after becoming one with Albedo, that you would be whole again, and you would begin to grow in a natural way. In turn, Albedo would be able to sustain injury and to die, together with you. I was so happy for both of you, even Albedo, who had hurt me deeply in the past.

I had mixed feelings regarding that thought. When those four years had gone by, I realized that you would now look at least sixteen on the surface, far too old to pass as my equal. Was there always this gaping space between us? Had I simply refused to see it before?

I was nineteen years old in a technical sense, but I never thought of myself as an adult. My mother often called me a young woman, but I still reffered to her as "mommy." I do, even now, on occasion. It's stuck in my head. Maybe it's part of my programming. I may run an interplanetary operation by day, but I still hug a stuffed bunny at night. It is the one that you gave me, my comforting U-Kun.

That's when I asked myself: Am I stuck here? Will I always be a little girl with a Mommy and Daddy, never a woman with her parents? A woman who takes care of her parents in their old age. I'd like to be that someday. I don't want to wander this world alone and without everyone I loved, still twelve in body and vague in spirit. Albedo, is this what you were afraid of?

I would pray. I don't think there is a god anymore. In fact, I think we might have killed him ourselves. But I prayed that you would come back. And I prayed that by the time you did, I would have joined you in that league of life.

Even contemplating this for so long, for me, just as I am sure it was for you, the metamorphosis was so sudden even though I had been waiting on it for such a long time. I had been stuck in this mode for so long that when it came time to shift, I was stunned.

It was late into the evening when my mother came into my room to find me yawning and about to fall asleep at the screen. Even a realian gets sleepy after so much technical work. I can remember that on that day, I was trying to increase the effectiveness of the shift into imaginary space. This would get us closer to perfect UMN travel, and eventually, safe entry into the encephalon. Maybe if I could enter the encephalon, not only would it be beneficial to mankind, but I could possibly find some clues for you.

When I saw her at the door, I knew that something was going on. She had that uneasy smile on her face that she always did when she was afraid of hurting my feelings, or when she was unsure of how I would react to something. "MOMO," she said softly, as I anticipated. "I have something important to talk to you about."

I stopped my hands and gave her my full attention. At this time of night I was in my pajamas, but she was still wearing her usual clothing, probably having just returned from a long night at work. "Sure, Mommy," I said sleepily and rubbed my eyes. "I was just trying to get ahead, I can put this away at any time."

"Thank you," she replied. "Why don't you come to the kitchen? I bought us some cocoa to make hot chocolate."

"That sounds great," I answered. We went to the kitchen and I sat on a stool at the kitchen counter as she prepared the cocoa. It always made me feel warm inside to see my mother doing motherly things, and being happy to do them.

When she had poured a mug for both of us, I sipped it quietly and waited for her to tell me what was on her mind. "MOMO," she said. "You've been working very hard, and your efforts... yours particularly, have given this universe hope. You have really become the hope of all realians and humans alike, just like your father said you would."

She said this with such an air of admiration that it nearly brought me to tears. She had told me this before, but never so directly, and never mentioning Daddy... I couldn't find any words.

"Even more," she continued, "you've been so loyal to your friends. Not a day goes by when you don't put effort into helping them."

My cheeks were so flushed by that time, that I'm sure I looked sick. Such praise, and from my mother. That's one of the best feelings I have ever had, for her to be proud of me.

"Out of all of this, you never once looked into the fragmented Y-DATA for personal reasons. You never once tried to do anything simply for yourself. You have been truly altruistic. I think that this proves that you are an adult now."

"But I..." My warm feeling went away. "I still feel like a girl. My body doesn't grow, my mind is still written to be like a child. That's who I am. I can't just change it."

"No, not at all, MOMO," she replied, cooing the words. "You surpassed that initial programming long ago. Could a child have taken responsibility for the entire universe? Could a child have dedicated herself and perfected a skill far beyond even that of adult model realians? You are living in the realm of adults now, MOMO."

At that point, I was honestly confused. Mommy, the very person who I had been made a child in order to please, sat before me telling me that I was not a child, and that she still loved me for it. "Why are you saying all of this?" I asked her, trying very hard not to let any tears come out. I don't think I had tried that hard not to let tears come out since the day that you left.

"I haven't been as selfless as you have," she said with a warm, but ever slightly guilt-laced smile. "I looked into the Y-DATA myself many times for personal reasons--for you. I wanted to find anything that might make this world a bit more fair for you. I know you would have never done it on your own, but I want you to be happy. I thought that perhaps Joachim would have enabled that, and it appears that I was correct."

"Daddy did? What did you find?"

She smiled so brightly, I could tell that she was eager to see my response to the information she was about to give me. "It took a long time for me to piece it together, but I found data regarding a transgenetic realian model. You do remember Febronia, right? The one that you met in Shion's subconscious presentation of Old Miltia...?"

"Yes," I answered. I always admired Febronia even though we had only met briefly, but it had been a long time since my mind had wandered to her. "You found information on how Febronia was created?"

"Not exactly," she went on. "This data that I found, it was specifically made for you. It must have been created after Joachim realized that you would become our second daughter. He laid these plans for you, for when you were mature enough."

"What does that mean?"

She rose from her chair, the steaming mug left forgotten on the counter, and wrapped both of her arms around me. "MOMO," she said, and her joy seemed to be overflowing. "It means that you can be transplanted into a body that will grow just like anyone else. Its basic structure is that of a teenaged girl, but it has human parts. _It grows_."

I stared into nothing, my head held beside hers as she embraced me firmly. I could not believe it. "A realian... that will grow?"

"Yes!" she said, and withdrew from me enough to see my face. Hers was moist with tears beginning to form. "I mean, it won't get any taller, the skeleton is standard, but... Oh, MOMO... this body Joachim designed, it's completely compatible with human DNA. It's even capable of bearing children!"

I drew another blank as that sunk in. "MOMO... a mommy?" I wondered aloud. I had never thought of it. Never. I had never dreamed that I would ever have the ability to create and nurture life. When I realized what my mother was saying was that this was possible, I realized that it's what I wanted.

Maybe I wasn't ready then, and maybe I am not even now, but someday I will be. There is only one vital piece missing now. It could be you... maybe... it doesn't have to be, although I would, um...

Ah... but let me change the subject, now. You're making me embarrassed.


	18. New Blood

**Chapter 18: New Blood**

I happen to be privy to this conversation by accident.

I was in the lab that day because I was trying to find a scope chip for my AMWS, which was located behind a large tub of parts for some reason. The professor is so unorganized. I mean, he'd rather us blow up all of his crap than clean it. Therefore, I blame him.

Through the open door on the hall side of the lab, I saw Shion and Allen run into each other. "Oh, Shion!" Allen greeted her excitedly. He had that sort of nervous grin on his face that I hadn't seen in years. "I thought of something to think about for the uh... for the _you know._" There was a suspicious tone in his voice.

"Oh?" Shion answered, and both began to look around the hallway nervously. I know that I should have let them know that I was there, but I guess I hadn't yet broken that bad habit, so I ducked. Can you blame me? _I'm sure she can._

"Let's step in here," Shion said, and they came into the lab. I was pretty sure I was screwed if they stared making out or anything, but that was all the more reason to stay quiet.

"Well," Allen said, to my relief. "I was just thinking... how about a name?"

"Name?" she responded inquisitively.

He grinned. "Yeah, a name!"

"Oh... I never thought about this before."

Allen touched his fingers to his chin thought. "Why don't we name him after Jin?"

Shion's eyes opened wide at that suggestion. "Huh?"

"Well, we know it's a boy, and Jin's the best guy I know. Plus he'll be the oldest child right? It'll be just like--"

"No."

Allen laughed awkwardly. "No?"

"No way! That would be a little too creepy. Plus, when we find Jin, there will be two Jins!"

"Ha, okay, well..."

"What was your dad's name again?" she asked him. "You know, even though we sent that letter... I don't think you've ever told me much about your parents."

"That's not really important, my parents uh..." he scratched his head, obviously recalling unpleasant memories. "Well, what about your parents? Suou Uzuki, right?"

"Yeah," Shion sighed nostalgically. "In the end, Dad turned out to be the kind of person who deserves something like that."

"Heh, maybe Jin can be the next one."

"The next one? How many are you planning on making me have?"

Allen jumped at that suggestion and began shaking in his usual manner. "Ah-ah-ah I dunno!"

But it had already passed. Shion was staring dreamily into the space in front of her. "This is going to be wonderful..."

He joined her in gazing and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "...yeah..."

"So, Suou then?" she asked.

"I think it's a great name. Suou Uzuki-Ridgeley."

Then, what do you know, I had to sneeze.


	19. Daughter

**Maybe Tomorrow 19: Daughter**

Months passed very quickly. My new body was constructed easily and in little time, but not hastily. This procedure was not entirely unheard of for realians.

When a realian possessed some vital piece of knowledge, at least parts of them might be transferred to another. This is how it was for the one Ziggy referred to as Lactis, whose consciousness continued to exist inside of a new body as Canaan. But in all of those cases, the preservation of the realian's individuality was not a high priority.

When it came time for me, I was nervous. I knew that changing bodies was not like recalling a soul from the UMN, as my father had originally tried to do. That only calls a new consciousness into existence. I knew that this was different, but I was still worried. My consciousness would be exchanging the physical matter which holds it in the real numbers realm. Wouldn't that mean that my personality would change, even if it were to be preserved in tact? That's too much for a person to think about.

There was a simpler way to sum up my feelings. Once I looked different, everyone would see me differently, and therefore, I would really _be_ different. I suppose this is why you never sent me any pictures.

This fear didn't really grab me until the last hour before the procedure. Up until then, I had been working excitedly. Then, as my mother prepared with the other doctors, I waited outside with Ziggy. The feeling sunk in suddenly and I couldn't shake it away.

"Ziggy?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, MOMO?" he replied. He had already noticed the sudden change in my mood. "Is there something you want to ask me?"

"Uh-huh," I answered with a nod, and raised my eyes to meet his. "Ziggy... if you could change your body to be human again, would you do it?"

Ziggy considered for a moment before answering. "Though my body was reanimated without my conscent, it was my own conscious decision to cast away my human body. I no longer have the desire to erase myself in this way, but the fact remains that I am a mechanical person and that is how I choose to stay."

"I see..."

He noted my saddened reaction and made an attempt to clarify. "You, MOMO... I am sure that if you wished to remain this way, if you feel most comfortable this way, that no one would think less of you for remaining as you are."

I pulled my knees tightly together and hugged myself with my arms. "Yeah, I know," I said, and my voice nearly cracked. "Maybe I shouldn't... I'm just trying to... to catch up. Maybe I wasn't meant to."

My head was turned so far to the ground that I did not see Ziggy watching me, smiling softly with a knowing expression. I felt his heavy hand fall onto my shoulder gently and looked up in surprise as he pulled me closer to him so that my head rest against his arm. Ziggy wasn't the sort to reject affection from me, but he rarely initiated the action himself.

"I was going to say," he continued, "that though you could stay this way if you wished, I have known you for a long time now. When I found you, you were a little girl, and had been for fourteen years; but you had never been given the chance to be _somebody's_ little girl. To Juli you finally became a daughter, and to Jr., like a younger person to protect. Sister may be too strong a word, but it was something along those lines."

I made that deep "urggle" noise I often would when I was trying not to say something, but failed to keep it all in. "Oh... you think so..."

"But that isn't _you_ any longer," Ziggy went on. "You have spent your share of time in that role, and now it is time for you to grow up. My son, he never..."

I looked up at Ziggy, mouth agape in surprise. He never spoke of his past life with me. My mom had spoken with him about it before, but never with me. "Ziggy..."

"I am happy to see you grow up, MOMO, no matter what form you decide to take. Daughters remain daughters, even when they are adults. I hope I can see the day when you will be a wife to someone, because I know that is what you truly desire. Maybe you will have your own children someday who I can hold like I held my son long ago. And as for Jr..."

I smiled, but only to cover up a strangely sad feeling that bubbled up inside. "Do you think he's grown to?"

"I do," Ziggy answered. "And his last words to me seemed to make his feelings very clear..."

"Oh?" I tried hard to remember what you said that day, but I had been so sad, I could hardly remember.

"'Take care of MOMO and Juli for me,' he said. But it wasn't because he thought he would never return. 'We're going to be gone a little while,' he told you. You know that he will come back. So the reason was that he had found more to live for. While still honoring that promise, he has entrusted me to carry it out. I am honored with that task, and I believe that by carrying it out for him, that he will be able to live for the future. When he returns, he will see things anew... and that includes you, MOMO."

My smile suddenly became more honest. "Then I guess..."

Ziggy lifted his arm as I stood from his grasp. "Hm?"

"I guess I can't disappoint him!" I proclaimed. "Thank you, Ziggy. I am ready now! I know that as long as you and Mommy will still love me, that I'll go over. And maybe... there's a chance that someone for me will be on the other side."

"I knew it was just cold feet," he responded with a slight chuckle. "Come on. Your mother and I will be with you for the entire procedure."

Together we entered the room where my mother was waiting with two female doctors whose names I hadn't caught. They were all wearing clean uniforms and friendly smiles.

"What took so long?" my mother asked, wearing an overly concerned expression. "Is anything wrong?"

"No, I'm sorry I'm late!"

"MOMO was simply taking a moment to say goodbye to her current height," Ziggy covered for me. "Isn't that right, MOMO?"

"Yes!" I said, and beamed a smile back at him.

Mother looked at us strangely, and I think for the first time in my life, I managed to fool her.


	20. Son

**Chapter 20: Son**

Nine months is all it takes for a set of chromosomes to become a little person. Babies are kind of weird, to me. Total blank sheets. We begin the same as any other animal. No... the fact is that our starting point is probably far behind other species. Other animals hatch, already prepared for the world. Even other mammals can walk and eat. We can't do anything, not without our mothers and fathers. Or, if you're like me, at least not without a whole lot of scientists and realian caretakers.

_That's because people are weak_, but somehow we can overcome that and do so much more. _We're just animals like anything else,_ but I think we're here for a reason. We grow into who we are from our surroundings rather than merely surviving them with what we've been given, and that is why humanity is always growing, _always climbing their rickety tower of culture. Where do you think you're going? Why don't you just fall off, already! _No, I don't think we'll fall over. It's a house of cards to be sure, but we can make it. That doesn't mean that we will ever reach the top, but climbing is all that really matters. _But don't forget, I was at the top once. _Yeah, I know! Stop bragging about it. Geez.

Over those few months, I watched Shion's belly grow large and stared at her often in wonderment. There's a potential somebody inside of her. Wow. I had always taken it as one of those facts of life, I had never seen it happen. _It's not like we came out of a woman, you know. _I wanted to know what kind of person the kid would be, growing up on this ship. If the Elsa would be his whole world, the thing that would determine who he would become. Strange.

Months passed and I pondered that, but the time actually came when I was not thinking about it at all. Finally, the most dangerous day the Elsa had faced came to pass. We were around the table at dinner with everyone present, when Shion dropped her glass.

"It's time," she said, giving little care to the glass and the spilled drink.

"Time for what?" I asked from across the table.

"Oh, was there something in the oven?" Allen asked. "Let me get it for you!"

A look of pure death. "The _baby,_" she groaned.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "Oh, well _hell_! Wait... really?"

"YES, REALLY."

"What do we do, Cap?" Tony asked, as he and Hammer rose form their seats and began hopping around him for guidance.

"Y-y-y-y-y-y-yaa-yeaaah what now?"

"Just eat yer supper, morons!" he answered. "We ain't no doctors!"

Shelley and Allen together helped Shion rise from her chair. She was sick, and getting a lot sicker. I attempted to follow after them to the medical bay, thinking that I could help, but Mary grabbed me by the collar. I nearly snapped my neck when she pulled me back. "Do you want to die?" she asked me.

"Uh... no?"

"Then keep your ass out of here, that's fer sure!"

With that said, she sent me back out into the observation area. I pressed my face up against the viewing window, but she quickly swiped the blinds shut in front of me.

"Hey, how come I don't get to watch?" I complained. It wasn't until later that I remembered exactly what part of the body babies actually come from. It's a good thing they were too busy to hit me.

Captain Matthews, Hammer, Tony, and I sat out there nervously pacing. We were walking in a single file line around the room taking right turns only, like some twisted level of Hakox. Finally, Mary emerged again. She was dragging Allen. She was dragging Allen _across the floor_. He was totally unconscious.

"What happened?" I stammered. "Was there blood? Is Shion hurt? Is it done?"

"No!" Mary shouted back, and cruelly left Allen just lying in the open floor. "Nothing happened yet, he just got so excited, he passed out!"

"Poor guy," I muttered, and leaned over to help Allen out. Mary turned about face on her heel and went back into the room. We heard Shion screaming something.

"...and what about... college tuition..." Allen was mumbling as he came to. "Oh! Where am I?" He shot up and then winced as his head was obviously pounding.

"Stay put, _Dad_," I said, and motioned for him to just lie there until he recovered. "Let the women-folk handle this one."

"That's what I say!" Captain Matthews agreed. "Want a beer?" He held out a can to Allen, who managed to sit up without hurling.

"Oh, thanks a bunch," he said coarsely, and cracked it open.

I chuckled loudly. "Looks like this is gonna be a real bonding experience!"

"Aw, what the hell," Matthews sighed, and held a can out to me as well. "How old are you now? Sixteen?"

"Thirty," I replied. Everyone looked at me quizzically and then shrugged in unison.

So basically, us men got uselessly plastered (you see, this happens a lot) while Shion was screaming and all, even though the painkillers would have kept her from feeling a thing so it must have just been for drama. The Professor and Scott were nowhere to be found, and probably smart for that. I don't think Shion would appreciate her newborn being labeled Assistant Number Nine.

Hours passed, and at long last, Suou Uzuki-Ridgeley was born. We were long sobered by then, and they allowed us inside.

I stood back and gaped at Shion, now a mother, sitting there upon the bed in a gown holding a tiny, impossibly _tiny_ person in her arms. _Mother. _

Allen went to her and met his son. He was crying, outright crying for joy. _There are fathers like that?_ we wondered. That was a new one on both of us. There are fathers who care for their sons.

Everyone else was quiet and watching this, just as moved and astonished as we were. Finally, Captain Matthews broke the silence. "As the first baby born on the Elsa--" he started, enthusiastically.

"First?" Mary interjected angrily. "You think somebody else on this ship is preggars?"

"Shut up!" he barked back at her, and cleared his throat. "As the first baby born on the Elsa, I would like to name little Suou here as the heir to the great ship Elsa Von Brabont!"

"What?" Shion giggled, and looked up from her child for the first time since he had been born.

"I mean--" Captain Matthews began again.

"Haha!" I laughed. "The big guy is getting all flustered!"

"You shut up, too!" he snapped back, then coughed again to clear his throat. "I am naming Suou as my primary heir to the Elsa, which means that when I'm gone, this little boy can have her! Of course, I plan on living a long and full life, so he'll be a grown man by then."

"Hey," Tony groaned. "That's not very fair! What about us? We've been working this ship for years!"

Hammer nudged him. "As long as I don't inherit his debt, I don't care!" he whispered. Tony realized the logic in that and shut himself up.

"That's very kind of you, Captain," Shion said with a smile. "I know that this ship is your pride and joy. I'm sure that Suou will be honored."

"Shelley and I made him these cute lil' booties," Mary said, holding up their gifts for the baby. "And this lil' outfit and this lil--"

"Since when can you guys sew?" I asked, suspiciously.

"Well we didn't sew it per-say," Shelley answered, "but we did generate it from a designer catalogue, that takes skill too!"

I groaned. "Uh... well I don't really have anything to give him," I said, and I really felt bad. "My ship's been sunk. My estate's washed up. When we get back home, I'll be pretty much penniless," I laughed bitterly at that. "I don't really have anything to give..."

"That's okay," Allen chuckled. "We didn't expect any gifts."

"Jr.," Shion said to me. Her expression was soft like the mother's that I never had. I remembered Juli Mizrahi for a moment, my closest thing to a mother. "Do you have any of those books... the paper kind, I mean... any of them with pictures? For children?"

"Oh..." I rubbed my chin and though about that. "I have an illustrated book of fairy tales," I said. "If you want that, it's yours!"

"I think that Jin would like for Suou to read books, but he can't be here," she replied. "I am not asking you for it, but someday... would you read it for him?"

My heart was suddenly warm and content, though Albedo seemed sickened by the entire proceeding. "I sure will," I promised her.

Suou's hands were so small. When I had my turn to see him, he grasped at my finger as if it was something huge. He had bright green eyes and a little bit of black hair. There was a good chance that it would grow out another color, but for now, he had the same coloration as Gaignun, I noticed.

"Come on, Albedo," I said to myself, "Give the boy your best wishes!"

_What more do you want from me? Babies are creepy.  
_

* * *

_Note: since Allen has always viewed Shion as a superior, I decided to put her name first in their combined last name. Most families in Xenosaga do seem to take the male's last name, though.  
_


	21. Pretty Peach

**Chapter 21: Pretty Peach**

In six years, the face of the project had changed. With hundreds of planets joining the legion, and many of them having various countries within them, the ranks had exploded. There were now thousands of operatives across the galaxy working in their own branches.

Technically, Doctus was the leader of them all, but she still preferred her anonymity. I was the poster girl, and that meant that I had to attend many many more company functions that I would have liked to. This one was only special because it was the first since my body had changed.

Many people were curious. Many realians were curious. They wanted to know if it was really okay to change yourself, to be something different from your creator's original intent. But my creator did intend for this, whether it's a functional intent or not, so I really didn't know what to tell them.

I was just trying to keep my mind off of it for as long as possible. My mother came into my room while I was reading a book and smiled broadly. "Time to get ready!" she said. "Come on!"

I looked up at that strange behavior. Though my mother was definitely happier as time went on, that level of enthusiasm was just _weird._ "What? The office party isn't for two hours."

I stood, and when I did, it still seemed odd to me to be so high off the ground. My own legs felt like stilts. I was as tall as my mother, since it was her shape obviously that Daddy had based the skeleton on. She seemed to notice that difference as well, but it made her smile.

"I bought you this," she said, and I noticed that there was a long bag in her arms held by a clothes hanger. She pulled the plastic off, revealing an evening gown. It was a pale marigold yellow with a shimmery texture.

"Oh, that's beautiful!" I said. "But you didn't have to do that, I was just going to wear my old black one... wait..."

"It doesn't fit you anymore," she replied gently. "You're not used to it yet, are you?"

"I could have borrowed one from Miyuki," I said with a smile. "But thank you, this is a beautiful present."

Mom was beaming then, and shoved the dress into my arms. "Go try it on," she insisted.

"Um... okay," I agreed, and went into my bathroom. I found that the dress was very low cut both in the front and the back. That made me a little embarrassed, but it was a lovely gown, still.

I came back out to find my mother assembling what appeared to be some kind of beauty workstation in front of the mirror in my room. "What's all this?" I asked.

"Oh, you look beautiful!" she exclaimed, then she looked down at the tools she had set out. "Oh my, I haven't done anything like this in years, but... I think I still remember how to do it."

"Thank you Mommy, but uh... Huh?" There were all of these brushes and curlers and nail files and instruments I couldn't really label laying around.

"Sit down for a moment in that chair," she said, and I made sure that there was nothing that might damage my gown before sitting down. She picked up some strange little abrasive-looking object and kelt down at my feet. While I watched in amazement, she took one of my feet in her hands and then looked back up at me, puzzled.

"What are you going to do?" I asked her.

"Well," she answered, "I was going to clean up the skin on your feet so that you can wear these pretty sandals, but I forgot you haven't really been using these feet long enough to rough them up yet," she said in a calm tone. "Your feet are still as clean as a child's, I'm a little embarrassed."

"Aw, thank you, Mommy," I said. "But you don't need to do that anyway."

She smiled. "Okay, we will just move right along to this polish, then."

It was kind of unsettling to see my mother acting so differently, but I didn't resist as she painted my nails pink and then continued to put make-up on my face and brush my hair. She was explaining each thing as she went along. "Since it's evening you can wear dark eye shadow," she said, "but in the daytime you would normally use this lighter shade," and so on with that kind of advice.

I think that I began to realize why she was acting this way somewhere between the lipstick and the hair curler. Her first daughter never had the opportunity to grow up. When Sakura was alive, she had probably looked forward to doing this someday, then buried all of those wishes deep inside her once her daughter died. But now, I was grown, so she allowed those feelings to come out again. That made me happy, too.

She finished off my look by pinning a yellow rose in my hair. When I was fully dressed and assembled, she urged me to stand up and led me into our living room. There, Ziggy had been waiting silently, I guessed, for the last hour.

"Doesn't she look great?" Mom said in the height of excitement, and put her hand against Ziggy's shoulder.

"Yes, I know," Ziggy said in an unsurprised, but impressed tone. Then he looked at my mother. "But you haven't dressed yet..."

"Oh, right," she replied in slight embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I'll be back soon!" Then she disappeared into her part of the house.

"Juli is unusually excited," Ziggy noted aloud. "I have no complaints about that, but I was never very good with shopping..."

"Did you and Mom go to the mall?" I giggled. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Ziggy!"

After some time, my mother reappeared but now it was her turn to look at Ziggy in scrutiny. "You're not planning on going in that, are you?" she asked him.

"I am pretty much incapable of choosing what I wear," Ziggy answered. "I apologize if this is not to your liking. I prefer to remain unnoticed at these social events in any case."

"I have already planned ahead for this," she said, ignoring the last part of that. She held out a black bow tie. Ziggy looked at it confused, grimacing. "It looks like I have to teach both of you how to dress properly," she sighed, and began to show Ziggy how to put it on.

Soon I was giggling because Ziggy was wearing all of his normal gear, but with a bow tie. "You look rally nice, Ziggy," I tried to say without laughing. I don't think I succeeded.

With that out of the way, we went to the convention center where everyone from Scientia was assembling. We were early, but we were very important figures, so they let us in anyway.

Inside, Doctus was instructing some of the staff on where to go and what to do. I was surprised to see her out in the open, but even more so, I was surprised to see that she was wearing a party dress.

"_Huh?_" I said out loud.

"Good evening, MOMO," Doctus greeted me. She was wearing leggings, boots, and goggles as usual, but with a short strapless black dress that showed her muscular shoulders to the world.

"I uh... have not seen this side of you before, Doctus." I said.

"Are you saying that I look bad?"

"Oh, no no! You look great, it's just... weird..."

Doctus chuckled. "Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerunt..."

My eyebrows raised at that. "Er... yeah... ad nauseam..."

That earned a little smirk and shrug. "Just remember, I'm the event supervisor here, not your boss, right?"

"You're not really my boss anyway," I giggled. "Okay, your identity is safe with me!"

"All right," she said, and gave me a scrutinizing glance up and down. "As for you... the little girl look is sort of our mascot, but the group is expanding so much now that I don't suppose it matters. I approve of this new look. We may get even more volunteers with both you and Miyuki around."

"Gee, thanks for the approval," I responded flatly.

"Now now," Doctus replied. "It's good to change models every so often, I do it occasionally."

I smiled. It was really the closest thing to a compliment I could expect. "Well thanks for the support, Doctus."

Doctus then turned to my mother. "Always good to see you, Doctor Mizrahi," she said. "I think everything is in order now."

"Thank you so much," she replied, and Doctus left to see to something else. I caught a little bit of a mischievous hint in the exchange between them, which was especially odd since they had never liked each other all that much. But as I was pondering that, I heard a loud shriek from the entrance and then Miyuki was upon me like a hound.

"Oh my god, you're so CUTE!" she wailed.

"Miyuki, you're... you're squeezing too hard," I coughed as she hugged the air out of me.

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" she chirped, and let me go. "But really, now I wish I had pink hair! That's so adorable!"

Behind her, a black-haired young man in a suit that didn't fit him very well struggled to keep up with his date for the evening. "Hey, MOMO!" he said loudly. "Long time, right?"

"Hi Togashi," I said with a smile. "How have you been?"

"Well, I've been kinda busy, really. With all the reconstruction, people actually want androids in this day and age. I remember when we built KOS-MOS, it was like a joke."

"I am sure that Shion would not like to hear that," Ziggy stated.

"Haha," Togashi laughed. "You're right, but that's at least one benefit of her not being here, isn't it?"

"Aw, you guys shouldn't talk about Shion like that," I said.

Miyuki laughed awkwardly. "Wow... it really feels like just yesterday, they all left."

"Not to me," I replied. "I feel like so much time is going by."

"I wonder how far along they are now," my mother added. "They could be on Lost Jerusalem right now. How amazing."

"I wonder if Jr. is tall like MOMO," Miyuki said.

"Ha, I wonder if Allen ever asked Shion out!" Togashi responded.

Miyuki began to laugh. "I wonder if Shion even realizes 'hey, this guy is throwing away a good chunk of his life to be with me, I guess he likes me!' or if she's still oblivious!"

We began to talk about old times when everyone was together, and then the conversation shifted into what had been going on lately, catching up, and just chatting. It was turning out to be a fun party after all.

Some time after the party had officially started, Miyuki sent Togashi to get drinks and food for us. Ziggy and my mom had become absorbed in their own conversation, so that left Miyuki and me to talk by ourselves.

"Hey," Miyuki said, looking around the ball room party. "There are a lot of hot guys here, did you notice?"

"Oh," I said. "No, I really hadn't... I don't really pay attention to that sort of thing."

"You're no fun," Miyuki said. "Married to work, just like Shion..."

I began to look around the room. "Hey, you're right," I said.

"Huh?" Miyuki looked up, amazed. "I am? Ooh! Tell me which guy you think is hot, we can get you hooked up!"

"No," I hushed her, embarrassedly. "I mean... there is an unusually high number of male attendees. And most of them appear to be between the ages of nineteen and twenty-nine."

"Oh, you say so, huh...?" Miyuki hummed, and began perusing the crowds for faces that she liked.

"Miyuki!" I scolded. "You're here with Togashi,right?"

"Hey! There is nothing wrong with window shopping!" she retorted. "Come on, try it. Just tell me which one you think looks nice, for fun!"

"Um... well..." I scoured the crowds. I didn't know what I was supposed to be looking for. I felt guilty somehow, and embarrassed. "Well um... I guess... maybe that boy over there... maybe?" I pointed towards a blonde-haired young man who was wearing a big grin on his face. He looked like he was enjoying himself.

"Haha!" Miyuki laughed. "I get it now, you just have a thing for red-heads!"

"His hair is not red!" I said defensively. "It is blonde! You are just trying to make fun of me again!"

"His hair is totally red, I'm not even kidding!" Miyuki responded.

"It's blonde!"

"It's _red_!"

"I would call it strawberry-blonde, personally," Ziggy said suddenly, and from directly behind us. We both jumped about a meter into the air.

"How long were you listening, Ziggy?" I asked frantically, and turned unmistakably red, myself.

"We will leave you girls alone," he said. "You seem to be having fun."

"Oh, is that it?" Miyuki prodded him playfully. "Going to dance with Doctor Mizrahi?"

"I... don't dance," Ziggy responded flatly.

"Oh _sure_ you don't, especially not the dirty dance, _right_?"

Ziggy raised an eyebrow. Miyuki considered Ziggy's physical aptitude for a moment.

"Oh yeah," she said, then chuckled ad elbowed Ziggy in the waist. "Well, at least you can do the hand jive, right?"

"Miyuki," I whimpered, and looked for a table to hide under. "Please stop talking to my parents... please?"

"We'll be going now," Ziggy said abruptly, then he and my mother left me with Miyuki.

"You're supposed to be my body guard..." I sighed, but Miyuki laughed in triumph.

"Okay, my turn!" she said. "I'll tell you which one I like! I like that boy over there in the white suit, aww... he looks so cute, probably thinks he's cool because his suit isn't black. He's probably some rich man's son getting a free ride as a freshman at Bormeo University, newly introduced to the world of temptations! He's probably been taken advantage of by countless upperclassmen who just want him for his estate and his woefully good looks! He is searching desperately for his Cinderella at this ball tonight, I bet!"

"No um, actually... I think that's Frank from PR."

"Oh! You're right." Then she waved. "Hi, Frank!"

When Togashi returned, I felt a little strange to be the third in the crowd. I made up an excuse that I wanted to pick my own snacks and escaped. I saw the two of them begin to dance, and knew that I was free.

But then, I was alone. The fun in the party had suddenly stopped altogether, and it became like every other party that I had ever been to. The difference this time is that my excuse was no longer in effect. I couldn't slide by with the excuse "there's no one my age here," and I didn't realize that I had been doing that until I couldn't anymore.

I felt several eyes on me. There was an uneven ratio of males to females here to begin with, and I was one of the only young women there. I didn't know what to do.

I heard a voice from behind me and turned. "Hey," a young man said. "Aren't you MOMO Mizrahi?"

"Yes," I replied, and forced a smile.

He laughed and raised his hands defensively. "Don't worry, I'm not going to ask for your autograph or anything."

He was a brown-haired boy with bright green eyes. I have to say that he was handsome, though that hardly interested me at the time. What I remember most clearly is that he wore a suit with long coat tails that swept the ground.

"So you don't like these parties, huh?" he asked me with a smile.

"I wouldn't say that I dislike them," I replied nervously. "I just don't really have a place in them..."

"I know how you feel," he answered. "It's not really my idea of fun. But you just have to loosen up. Things aren't so serious, you know?"

"What's not so serious?" I asked. I was suddenly very curious.

"All of this dancing and everything," he said. "I've been going to these things since I was a kid, I've got a famous father, I was just born into it. I used to just stand around like you're doing now, because nobody really knows who you are... I don't know if a lot of people care. You're beautiful and you're powerful, that's all half these guys care about. But standing around by yourself only attracts more attention."

"Thank you for the compliment... um, I wasn't quite so worried about that," I said, "but I suppose you are right. I wouldn't feel right dancing with a complete stranger."

"Well okay then," he said, "Let's just keep talking. That way, neither of us is a wall flower. Those gold-digging harpies won't come after me, and old guys looking for assets and err... well just ass to put it bluntly, won't come after you."

"Okay," I agreed. "That sounds like a good idea." So, I asked him what his father did that put him in such a position, and he said that he was a politician from Gedalya. It turns out that his father had known my mother before the disaster through the parliament. We talked for a while. It was not entertaining, though I wasn't really filled with joy.

I don't suppose it makes sense. I was not happy because he was not my good friend. Of course you can't make new friends to have a fun time with if you don't talk to someone the first time. But with him it was different because I could tell despite his front of innocent mutual benefit that he was interested in me in a way that no one had ever been interested in me before. I didn't feel bad at all, but I didn't feel good... I just didn't know how to feel. If it had been you, I would have rolled over in bliss, but you wouldn't have looked at me that way, and he was so much like you in some ways... just a little... and I just felt so strange.

"I hate to ask this after putting it down like that," he said, "but would you like to give this dancing thing a shot?"

"Oh, um, w-well--" I stuttered, and that is when I really began to blush and burn on the inside as if it had been someone that I really did have an interest in, myself. Maybe it's because I did. "I'm not sure... I've never really done it before."

"It's not like I'm asking to marry you," he laughed. "It's just that you seem different somehow... not fake or shallow. I feel like dancing with you might actually mean something. So I would be honored if you would dance with me."

"You're flattering me," I said, and cast my eyes away. "I don't know if..."

I looked around desperately for some way to escape this. I didn't want to hurt his feelings. He seemed sincere, and nice enough. There was honestly no reason I shouldn't dance with him. Any normal woman would have, and that is what I was trying to be. But still, I looked for a way out. Luckily, I had Ziggy.

Ziggy appeared abruptly with a drink in hand. "Here is that champagne you asked for," he said gruffly as he handed it to me. Then he stared down the poor young man with such an expression that I felt horrible about it, but part of me also wanted to laugh.

"Oh, excuse me sir!" he said in an awkward tone and nodded his head. "It was nice meeting you MOMO, I hope we can speak again umm... on completely platonic levels, of course!" Then the poor guy who's name I hadn't caught ran off and I never saw him again. I do regret that a bit. From our conversation, I gathered that he was a rather nice person at the least. But maybe in the end he was reminding me more of Allen than of you.

"Was he bothering you?" Ziggy asked.

"Oh, no," I smiled. "I just need to work up to the whole dancing thing, I guess."

"Small steps," Ziggy replied, with a knowing nod.

"Jan!" I heard my mother scold. "What did you say to that poor boy? MOMO was going to dance with him!"

"Oh no, really! I wasn't, Mommy, I swear!"

"I only intervened because MOMO appeared extremely uncomfortable."

She didn't seem to hear me and stared off in the direction where the boy had disappeared. "Jan scared off your first date..."

"It wasn't like that, really, Mom!"

Doctus approached us next. It seemed that she had been watching me as well. "How disappointing," she said. "Come on Ziggurat, let MOMO alone."

I gave them a questioning look. "What did you guys do? Why are there so many guys here today?"

Doctus and Mom gave each other a guilty look and then glanced back at me. "Looks like you found us out," Doctus said.

"What is this?" Ziggy asked.

My mother looked down sadly. "We just wanted you to have a good time," she said. "I had Doctus go through our records and invite all of the families who had a young man or two in them."

I was appalled. "_Mommy_, that's just... that's just not neccessary!"

"It would have worked if not for deus ex machina here," Doctus said flatly and pointed to Ziggy with her thumb.

"Was Miyuki in on this?" I asked them with an embarrassed sigh.

"No," Doctus replied. "She's just naturally like that."

I forgave them for the incident. My mother was just doing what mothers like to do, and I was thankful for the thought, at least. Miyuki and Togashi joined me again and together we all had a good time for the remainder of the evening. I spied on my mom right back as she danced with Ziggy, placing her hands on that bare part of his chest as he struggled humorously above all not to step on her feet. I imagine that would hurt, but she was willing to risk it.

I still wonder where that young man is now and what his name was. Maybe he still thinks about me as well, and at least he can brag to his friends that one night he very nearly danced with MOMO Mizrahi. Or maybe he says those lines to every girl that he sees standing alone.

Why is your face so red all of the sudden? Are you feeling well?


	22. History

**Chapter 22: History**

He entered the room unnoticed. It was dark and cold, but somehow comforting. KOS-MOS's bed laid open, the clamshell top lifted above her, casting a calm blue light onto the cheeks of the sleeping mechanical angel who laid there.

"I'd say that sounds pretty good!" I said, looking at the paragraph on the screen.

_I don't appreciate you stealing my material like that. Erase that last part and save it for MOMO's exposition, like it should be!_

"Hey, you stop complaining, otherwise I'm going to take your parts out of the story!"

_You can't remove me, Rubedo. If I wasn't there, you wouldn't look nearly as heroic._

"Whatever!"

He looked closely at her face as he drew nearer, and saw that she was resting peacefully, oblivious, perhaps dreaming. There was no sound of her breathing, only the faint hum of machinery. Catching a breath of the air, it came as no surprise to him that she had no scent. What surprised him, however, was that though his hands were covered completely as always, numb to the world, when he grazed his fingers against her cheek, he felt warmth from her. Imagined, it might have been.

"Hey Jr.?" I heard Shion's voice outside of my door.

"Come in!"

She smiled. "I made a midnight snack for Allen and me, Suou started crying again... anyway, thought you might like some."

"Oh, thanks!" I said in supreme excitement and jumped up to take the cookies she had prepared. They were gone in just a few chomps.

She grimaced. "Do you even taste anything, the way you eat?"

_I certainly didn't taste it... eat slower, Rubedo!_

I ignored the voice in my head and rubbed my belly as a show of my satisfaction. "It was delicious, thanks!"

"Well you're in a good mood," Shion laughed. "Hey, is your project going along well?"

"Yeah, I am writing a lot of scenes. Just now, I was working on chaos."

"Oh, can I take a look?"

"Um, yeah," I said in a muffled voice, really hoping that she wouldn't. "But, it's not like it's finished or anything..."

Shion rushed past, ignoring my excuses as well as my sudden bashfulness, and began scanning through my outlines and written chunks of work. "Oh, I like what you're doing with KOS-MOS," she said, after reading the recently written passage. "KOS-MOS really would get warm from the energy reserves sometimes in her old frame due to the intense compression of the condenser that we implemented, which was cost effective only for the test model, but we improved upon that in the second model along with the shock resistant gel that was suitable for the combat model frame, which second division developed, they really have more resources for hardware than we did, but you know, I don't think they ever finished that condenser..."

My eyes drooped a little as she went on and on about KOS-MOS.

"But I think this stuff about chaos is very cute," she said, and I woke up with a start. "He always told me that KOS-MOS looked beautiful when she was sleeping. That's a lot for him to say, I think. Though, looking back on it now, I wonder if maybe he was just seeing Mary..."

"I don't know about that," I answered. "There is nobody quite like KOS-MOS. Even I miss having her around. She would talk to me about guns and stuff, it was cool."

"Really?" Shion was intrigued. "I never knew about this."

"Yeah, KOS-MOS knows absolutely everything about guns," I said. "And besides that... I kind of understood her."

Shion looked at me with wonder, and possibly a measure of respect. "You did?"

"She's a weapon, right? No different from me."

"Jr... I never thought of it that way."

"Yeah, you wouldn't," I told her with a smile. "And that's a good thing. Don't worry, we'll find KOS-MOS and bring her back home, no problem."

Shion smiled back, and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I wonder if KOS-MOS will be Suou's big sister... or at least like an aunt, right?"

"Sure thing," I replied. "Well... if I was you, I'd get some sleep while the getting is good. Suou seems like a cranky baby."

"All babies are like that," Shion explained. "But you're right, I could use the rest. See you later, Jr."

With that she left, and I returned to my work with even more inspiration.

He smiled and realized that it was just the low heat of her energy reserves charging up. Still, that was her own kind of warmth, and it warmed him as well, to the core of his being.

"Where does the real you exist?" he asked her sleeping form. "Is it deep within you? Or maybe, could it be on the surface, just waiting to be nurtured?"

He wanted her to respond. He had to know. But KOS-MOS relinquished not a single answer. She could only continue sleeping.

_I find myself relating to this KOS-MOS character of yours. Any chance you can re-write a little so that she and I have a scene together? _

"You can't just rewrite it your way," I answered Albedo, although it occurred to me that Albedo's version would probably be more interesting. "Anyway, she's not a character... you will get to meet her eventually, ya know! Wow... come to think of it, I really want to reintroduce you to all of my friends. I can't wait until we get to Earth."

_I suppose meeting that one-eyed bastard's arch rival would be interesting as well._

"Haha!" I laughed. "And chaos! He's the greatest. He's really kind and always there when you need him. I owe him my life so many times over... I'll introduce you guys properly. And when we get back home, I'll have to make your case with Ziggy, oh! And you should really apologize to MOMO, you know? Let her know..."

_Oh... I'm sure she's already forgotten all about that! _

"Albedo, you really..." For the first time in quite a while I was frustrated with my brother. Since our thoughts were usually on the same wavelength these days whether I liked it or not, I don't think that it had ever occurred to me. "Do you still fail to understand what you've done to her?" My tone then was not accusing, I was concerned more than anything.

_You are the one who lacks understanding! I don't deserve to be forgiven for anything, and I will not apologize simply so that you'll sleep better at night, or for the sake of the girl's tender feelings, either._

"Arg," I grumbled, "you are really killing my mood."

_You are the one who asked, Rubedo. Remember that your story is not one of your horribly simplistic action adventures where the hero wins a cheap girlfriend in the end. No, I'm afraid **your** story if full of guilt, remorse, unsettled differences, and sorrow._

"That outlook of yours is probably why I always have this nagging feeling in the back of my head when I try to write."

_I didn't say that your life is **hopeless.** _

"You were thinking it pretty loudly, though."

_Whoops. Ha ha... hey, look Rubedo. Your story is not without its hopeful elements. Suck it up, others have had it worse than you._

"Name one."

_Ulysses!_

"No way, man. He totally had it better than me."

_Oh really? You expect to spend over 20 years at sea?_

"No, but he had lots of hot nymphs on his voyage! All I have is two crazy sisters and Shion."

_Your point there is taken._

I smiled at that, and dropped the subject. I knew that Albedo knew what he had done, and on some level he may I began to write again, this time on a different scene. I summoned enough courage to write a scene about myself, though I hadn't done any so far.

After realizing what he had done, Jr. retreated into the privacy of Gaignun's lounge. Why couldn't he have chosen his words better, he wondered. He had decided long ago that if he were to meet Sakura's sister, he would treat her as if he had never met Sakura before. He would regard her as her own person who had earned his friendship in her own right; not Sakura, and not Sakura's replacement. That is why he gave her no special attention when she arrived except for when she spoke directly to him. But in doing that, he had forgotten that MOMO was Mizrahi's daughter as much as Sakura had been, and let his tongue slip.

Ironically, his distaste for Mizrahi had formed greatly out of his treatment of MOMO, how he burdened her with the weight of the universe. But now, it was Jr. who had hurt MOMO most of all, and that made his heart ache as well. He would have to make it up to her, but without giving himself away. While running every possible scenario through his head, he must have let a few thoughts filter through to his sibling.

"That's a pretty deep hole you've dug yourself into," came Gaignun's mocking voice as he entered. Jr. looked up and groaned heavily.

_Haha... so you practiced digging holes as well!_

"Yup," I sighed, and put the writing away for the night. "I'm an expert."

Albedo, amazingly, fell silent for a moment. I nearly had to prod him. _In regards to your question earlier_, he said, _What I mean is,_ _you can't just rewrite it your way. I am not looking forward to your retelling of the scenes between MOMO and myself. But, it is not something that can simply be removed. MOMO linked with me, she knows as well as you do. _

"Wow, Albedo," I yawned, "That was surprisingly straightforward, you even addressed her by her name."

_It was your fault for letting me capture her, anyway!_

I laughed at myself a little for even half-expecting Albedo to admit fault, and fell into bed, considering this as I drifted off to sleep. "Well... I guess that's enough, then. Let's both remember, and I think that will be enough for her."


	23. Truth

**Chapter 23: Truth**

At the rate things were going, the future was looking very bright. Though countless lives had been taken in the Abel's Ark catastrophe, the destruction was not nearly as bad as we first estimated. There were survivors who had evacuated their planets all over the universe, and even some of the planets from the destroyed area miraculously avoided their doom. A few worlds even reappeared from imaginary space, though those who had not turned into Gnosis were certainly dead in that case. At least those people who escaped had a home to go back to.

So, with my colleagues abundant and spread across the galaxy, inviting more and more people to the new order, I decided that it was finally time for the next phase of my project, information exchange via the UMN, and a new encephalon.

I was excited about the encephalon. I worked day and night. Armed with the knowledge of what it really was, I was ready to introduce the truth of it to mankind. It could be used not only to store the memories and thoughts of the living, but to touch those who had passed on.

"I am not sure that this is the best idea you've ever had," Doctus told me. "The encephalon is something that mankind may be better off without. You are lifting the lid of Pandora's Box here, MOMO."

I was a work in my office going over the data when she had appeared and said this. "Why do you believe that?" I asked her with a sigh, without looking up from my work.

"To enter the encephalon is to enter the unus mundus," she explained grimly, "not merely to travel through it via a column. Without Vector's very strictly placed boundaries for humanity, its expanse is limitless... the memories of everyone who has ever existed swells up in that realm. Are you sure that you can handle the reality of that? Why do you think Scientia was formed to begin with?"

"I've held the Y-DATA in me," I replied firmly, unconcerned. "I honestly doubt that the universe has much left to throw at me after all that I have been through."

"True," she said, "if there is anyone who can do it, it would be you. But the rest of the world... I don't trust them."

"That's your whole problem," I said. "We will only open email functions to the public to begin with. There is no need to worry. We will introduce this to humanity little by little, and soon even the wildest concepts will be commonplace with enough education. It may take more than my lifetime, this project may stretch into the far future. I want to believe, no... it's something I have to believe... that... well..."

Doctus raised an eyebrow behind her goggles. "What is is?

"That people, on a basic level, seek out companionship and understanding. That our memories are something that we all can share. That the dual nature of our existence can finally be balanced by sharing in each other's experiences. That is what I have to believe in."

"You're overly optimistic," Doctus replied, then was silent for a moment. It seemed like she wanted to avoid that subject. "What alarms me most is the possibility that the dead might be contacted in this new, unrestrained version of the encephalon. Do you have any idea how complicated the very concept of that will make human life as we know it?"

"Humans will just have to start thinking like realians," I replied. "We just have to trust each other, and ourselves. Bad things will happen, but that is the price of advancement in any case."

"Collective thought isn't as easy as you presume. Take it from a human."

I finally looked up and gave her an earnest smile, along with my full attention. "So... you really are human behind that android body of yours. I'd really like to know who you are, Doctus."

"I'm afraid that you are one of the many people that I can never tell," Doctus replied. "Sorry."

I was surprised that she was willing to let even that much out. To be honest, I was just trying to get her off of my back. My attitude quickly turned sympathetic. "Why can't you?" I asked.

"I don't like to remember who I am," she replied. "But why am I telling you this?"

"I really don't know," I laughed. "But hmm... you need to open up. I promise that I will never tell anyone! Come on, Doctus. This is exactly what I am talking about. You humans just need to open up to each other, and you can start by telling me the big secret."

"You think that will solve everything?" She looked at me with a deep-set frown like she was about to smack the smile off of my face, but I just kept smiling at her. Finally she shrugged her shoulders and said the words plainly, likely betting on the fact that I wouldn't believe them. "My original name was Melisse Ortus."

"So it's true," I said. "You're the original founder of Scientia, or at least your original brain belonged to her."

"Yes," she said, and it seemed like I had struck a nerve because she became distant, and I had always seen her sharp and alert. "I am not sure whether I am her, or an alias of her, though..."

I stood up from my chair and walked over to stand near her. I thought this would be more personal than sitting and listening as I had always done before. "What do you mean by that?" I asked her. "Alias?"

"A copied consciousness," she continued to explain. "I heard that you have the memories of another girl inside of you, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is true," I said, and I began to feel uneasy myself.

"What if those memories were all that you had? If you had no way of telling that you were not, in fact, Sakura Mizrahi, what then? You would simply be another consciousness leading the same life over the same memories, with no bearing on the truth, the one all-important truth."

"Doctus," I said sympathetically. "I understand now what it is you are trying to say. But you are who you are, and does it matter if you were the original Melisse or not?"

"I suppose it always has to me," she answered, and then laughed bitterly. "Truth and Justice are things that I concern myself with. It didn't help that Melisse suffered a mental breakdown and was hospitalized. Delusion, paranoia, insanity... all of that is what led up to her shedding her body in the first place, I suppose. And then, the fact that we were all caught up in a repetition of events was not helpful, either."

I thought about how to phrase my next point while Doctus watched me and wondered what I would try to say or do to make her feel better. It wasn't that she wanted to feel better or that she believed that I could help her at all. She was being thoroughly entertained by the entire situation. She was eagerly awaiting to see what agonizingly positive ideal would come out of my mouth next.

But I was not going to be funny this time. "It doesn't matter if the memories were lived by someone else," I said. "You have them now. If you want to be Melisse, then be her. If you don't... it doesn't mean that you have to spite every memory. Let those who were close to her be close to you as well. That is how I, how I um..."

"Hm?" Doctus muttered questioningly. "Does our little realian have a secret now?"

"Yes," I smiled sheepishly and looked mack up at her. "There's a man who was loved by that girl. And yet, I still... love him, I am pretty sure that I do. I can love him even from the memories that I received from her, because they are memories of him."

"I see," she said, storing that information away. She would be sure to use it later.

"If Canaan's death hurt you, then it's your own sadness. You have memories of him as Lactis, you don't have to run away from that. And if you're afraid of getting close to Ziggy because you might see him the way that Melisse saw him, why don't you? You think that you are lying to yourself if you dare to think of yourself as Melisse, but you do have those memories whether you are her or not, and so you would be lying to yourself to deny them!"

Doctus backed away from me a step and I caught my breath. Just then I realized that I was getting a little louder than I intended to. Doctus waited until I had calmed down, and then she gave me a smirk. She seemed impressed. "So you managed to figure all that about me, and you were waiting for a moment when my defense was down... well done, MOMO."

"All I did was research Lactis because I wanted to know more about Canaan, I read that Jan Saur was his captain, then Melise Ortus... not hard to figure out."

"Oh really?" Doctus laughed. "Well... for all of that, I think you deserve a nice lunch. We'll put it on my bill."

"Can Ziggy come along?" I asked, prodding her.

"You _are_ getting sassy," she replied, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, bucket-feet can come along. But he's not my captain, you understand?"

"I do understand... and that's all that you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah... okay, little miss manipulative, you've made your point. I'll approve your encephalon dive testing, as long as you promise me that you'll be the only one diving into untested grounds."

"Oh good!" I cheered and grabbed my coat. "You won't regret it at all, I promise!"


	24. Eventually

**Chapter 24: Eventually**

Baby sitting. Now there's something I never saw as a major part of my daily activities. But normally, while Shion and Allen prepared dinner or worked on something together down in the lab, I was the one who ended up with little Suou, now a boy of three years. Mary and Shelley were more natural at the task, but Suou didn't like staying with them. They would pinch his cheeks and try and dress him up. They would call him Little Master, and play games with him that he didn't like. I've been there, I felt sorry for him.

After saving the kid from such an episode, I earned his trust and admiration. Maybe it's because I was a kid for such along time myself, but I got along pretty well with the little guy. I am not saying I have any iota of parenting skills in me, but I liked taking care of Suou, it wasn't a chore at all. Most of the time.

The kid had already learned to talk and walk pretty well by the age of three. He was smart, quick to take to new information. Our names became Mommy, Daddy, Uncle (even the professor, who refused to be called Grampa), Auntie, and the oddball Cap'n, which went for Matthews.

As the only child on the ship, he was never at a need for more attention, but he was lonely, I could tell. He watched videos from our databanks often and saw other children playing together, but there were none here for him. My childhood was strange in ways that I am sure I don't need to explain, but at least I had brothers. I felt like maybe I could help the kid with that, and play with him at least once every day.

Hide and Seek, however, was not a game that we played on the Elsa. The ship was a labyrinth down below, full of hazards of all kinds. There were plenty of experimental systems, fully loaded weapons, and whatever else you could think of down there. Suou was banned from the lower levels entirely. Of course, that only meant that it was _exactly_ where he tried to get to every minute of every day.

Some things are inevitable, and nobody could keep Suou out of there forever. Just my luck, it had to happen while I was watching him. If I didn't find him before Shion did, I was going to get it, big time.

_You should throw the kid out the airlock when you find him,_ Albedo joked. At least, I hoped he was joking. _Come on, you could blame it on me..._

"No."

I first searched the strategic room, and checked the logs there. Someone had turned the display on and off seventy-four times in the last half hour. Obviously work of Suou Uzuki-Ridgeley, but he was no longer there.

Next, I asked the Professor and Scott who had been working all day, as usual. They explained that their instruments had been mysteriously disappearing and popping up in weird places. They seemed convinced that it was the ghost of the Professor's arch rival, but I was pretty sure it was Suou.

Finally I reached the hangar and the droids were scurrying around flailing their arms. Suou, though he obviously didn't understand how it worked the way it did, had learned to recite a clever paradox that caused the droids to fret and worry for several minutes after they heard it.

"Of course the kid would come to see the giant robots," I said to myself. What kind of three-year-old boy wouldn't? "But where is he... Hey! Suou?"

There was a clatter from behind the foot of the red AMWS that I had rarely found a use for. It was still unnamed. I walked over to see that a handful of candies had fallen from above and struck against the ground. "Oh damn," I heard a very small voice say from above. Great. Somebody had picked up my language.

"I hear you, Suou!" I said. "It's been fun, but come on out!"

I heard his voice and realized that he was actually up there, at the top of the craft. "Are you gonna tell mom?"

I sighed very deeply. I didn't really blame him. "Hey, she's gonna find out eventually, right? You'd rather me tell her than let her find out on her own, wouldn't you?"

"No, no, no," he whimpered. Young children lack certain rational thought patterns. "You'll tell on me, you're gonna tell!"

I laughed. "Do you want to come with me, or do you want me to call your mom in here?"

"Call Daddy."

"Oh, you think dad will be easier on you, huh? No way. He'll freak out a lot more."

"Okay, okay! But... I can't get down..."

I shook my head and laughed. "Hold on, I'll be right up there." I used one of the extendable cords to slide up to the top, where the cockpit hatch was open and Suou sat inside, his legs failing to fold properly over the edge of the seat due to his size. I could relate. He looked up at me with a mixture of admiration and bitter defeat.

"I climbed up, but the rail fell and I couldn't get down."

"You shouldn't mess with droids like that, or these things might happen," I said. "Your parents don't want you to get hurt. How do you think your mom would feel if you fell and hurt youself?"

"I'm not gonna fall!"

I whistled a chord as I looked at where the railing had fallen. "Wow, that thing's really crushed! But I guess if you're not scared of falling, I could just go back and pretend I never found you."

It turned out that I was right and he was scared of being left alone up here more than he was of losing face to me. "Don't leave!" he said, and reached out to hold onto my leg.

"Ah, I'm not gonna leave you," I said and rubbed his hair. Then, I picked the boy up and held him in my lap as I sat down. He let me do this without a struggle, though is face still portrayed a look of betrayal. "Listen. I've fallen out of my craft more than once."

"You did?" he gaped in wonder. He knew that my piloting skills were the best out of all of those on the Elsa. Little did he know that I was born and bred to fly them, and had been forced to do so with all the enthusiasm of a kid doing his chores.

"Yeah. I broke a lot of my bones. Even busted my head open."

"Did that hurt?"

"Oh, you bet. It hurt like nothing else. Everybody makes mistakes."

He still didn't take to the lecture, and I didn't expect him to. I would just let Shion hammer it into him later. As long as he knew that I didn't approve of what he was doing, that was all I had to do. Having done that, I flipped a few switches to light the panels.

"So... now that there's an adult here to keep you safe, you want to see how it works?"

"Huh?" he stared up at me, mouth hanging open. "I thought you were gonna tell mom..."

"I will, but you know. If we're both gonna get in trouble anyway, might as well do something fun and make it worth it. Only as long as it's safe, though... of course."

That was a lesson he took to quickly, though I don't think anybody believes the last part, coming from me. I put my hands on the controls and suddenly the interior of the cockpit became transparent, so that it appeared that we were floating in the middle of the hangar.

Suou cried out and clung to me. "The floor's gone!" he said.

"Relax, you're not gonna fall out," I said. "The wall is still there, I just made it invisible so that we can see the outside. Go ahead, you can reach your hand out and touch it, if you want."

Suou gingerly crept from my lap and stretched his hand out as far as he could, believing me, but still scared he would fall. He tapped it a few times before rubbing it with his fingers to see that it really was there. "Cool!" he exclaimed, finally convinced.

"See, and you move the legs and arms like this." He watched below us in wonder as the arms moved and lifted in front of us.

"Can we fly?" Suou asked me. You don't know how much I wanted to say _yeah, let's fly! _

"We can't here, because there's not enough space," I explained. "But let me make you a deal. If you promise not to break the rules like that again, I'll take you flying the next time we have enough space. But if you do something dangerous again, I'm not gonna do it."

Suou pouted. "There's no way I can't do _anything_ bad, _ever_."

I laughed at that. "Just do your best, okay?"

I don't know if children that age understand grey terms, it's all to break rules or to not break rules. They only care about whether the reward outweighs the punishment. That is why, in Suou's mind, for a glimpse at this craft's interior, it was worth a spanking of a lifetime or a whole year without desert. He knew he was going to get caught from the outset.

"I'll try," he said. "I want to fly a robot."

"Well," I said, setting the screens to solid again, so that the interior was visible. "Come here. We can do a little bit of flying, maybe."

I stood up with him and opened the hatch. He wasn't heavy at all, but just to make sure, I attached his belt to me. "Now hold on tight," I told him.

He looked back at me with a very unsure expression which I found hilarious at the time. "What are you gonna do?"

I jumped off of the craft and slid swiftly with Suou down the cord. He let out a screech so loud that my ears were ringing afterwards. By the time we had fallen half way, the cord handle had slowed us into a safe, gentle decent. Suou recovered just before my feet touched the ground and began smacking my head lightly. "Never do that again, never ever!" he yelled in my ear, and I was laughing.

As soon as I placed him on his own two feet, he realized that something had fallen out of his pocket and went to pick it up. He tried to stuff it back into his pants secretly, but I wasn't going to let this suspicious behavior go by. "What do you have there?" I asked. It looked like a letter.

"I found it first," he said stubbornly. He definitely takes after somebody I know. "I found it between a shelf and a wall and it doesn't belong to anybody so that means it's mine!"

"I'm not trying to take it, sheesh! Just show me what it is, all right?"

"Okay," he agreed hesitantly, "but you better give it back, you better."

He held it out to me. I took it carefully, and turned it over in my hands. It was an old crumpled envelope. The seal was a pink heart-shaped sticker that had long ago lost it's tackiness. I took out the contents and stared at them in disbelief. Inside were three images printed on archival nanite paper.

The first was a picture of Ziggy sitting emotionlessly with Alby rolling all over his lap. The angle was askew, probably due to the photographer shaking with giggles. On the back was a note, _Alby really likes Ziggy! _ along with a date from six years ago, all hand-written. Next was KOS-MOS wearing an apron and holding a frying pan while Shion stood, back to the camera, giving her instructions. _Special KOS-MOS curry lesson, #3!_ read the back side. Finally, there was a picture of the photographer herself, where she had held the camera out in front of her, while hugging a boy with her other arm. I have to say that I hardly recognized myself. You were grinning a huge smile, but I had the distinct expression of not knowing what face to make, totally flustered. Written on the back was _Smile more often, Jr.!_

"Little people," Suou noted, after seeing that I lingered at the last one. "Is it you?"

"Sure is," I said, and handed him back the pictures. "When I was a kid... sort of."

He considered that thoughtfully for a few seconds before popping another question. "Is that girl a realium?"

"A what?"

"Mommy said yellow-eyed people are realiums!"

"Realians," I chuckled. "Yes, a good friend of mine."

"This guy with the puppy is a robot!"

I laughed out loud at that. "Well, sometimes he _acts_ like one, but no. He's a real person, just with robot legs."

"Is this Mommy's friend?" he said, pointing to KOS-MOS. "Are we looking for her?"

"Yeah, her name is KOS-MOS. Now _she_ really is a robot, but she's a real person at the same time... er, well... yeah. Robot." No reason to make the categories more confusing than they already were.

Suou puzzled over that briefly, and in the nature of curious children, went on to the next thing. He asked me, "Did you make that realium?"

"Ha, no! I didn't _make_ her, silly," I laughed, and rubbed his hair.

"Can the Professor make one?"

"A realian? I don't know. Why are you asking this stuff?"

"If Professor makes a realium it can be my friend," he explained very clearly, as if I was stupid for asking. "I'm gonna play with that realium someday."

I smiled warmly, and began to dream about the day when that may happen. "I am sure you will," I said.

My moment was shattered by a loud stomp. Shion cleared her voice. I looked up to find her standing with her hands on her hips. Both Suou and I knew that we were doomed.

"Boys!" she scolded, note that I had been placed in the category along with Suou, despite having grown into an adult by that time. "Just _what_ are you two doing down here?"

But, oh well. It had to happen sometime.


	25. Encephalon

**Chapter 25: Encephalon**

"Are you sure?" my mother asked for the umpteenth time since I gave her the news.

"Yes!" I laughed. "I'll be fine, don't worry at all."

A dive terminal had been prepared. It was just a little sketchy since they had always been constructed by Vector Industries, and this one was home-brewed. But since I am a specialized Realian, I knew that I would have little trouble with it. Even the fear of U-DO, if it still existed, would not affect me if I happened to run into it.

Miyuki tried to hide her anxiety behind a big grin as usual. "I'll be with you all the way!" she reassured me, and I nodded. For some reason, I was not worried in the least, myself. "Doctor Mizrahi and I will handle the dive the whole time, and Doctus will be monitoring the resulting data."

Ziggy was also there, hanging silently in a corner, but he had little to do in this situation. "Good luck," he said.

"Thank you," I replied. "Let's get started." I walked to the dive chair at the center of the room and sat down in it. They watched as I adjusted the goggles onto my face and pulled the safety harness over my shoulders. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Now initiating the UMN dive test," Doctus announced. "Our assignment: assess the nature of the UMN in its natural state through an unrestricted encephalon dive. The dive subject is MOMO Mizrahi. All terminals observe every field carefully."

"Link-up complete," I heard my mother say. "You should be connecting."

My vision began to blur. I closed my eyes, and then the sensation of falling through a tunnel began to take me. It was dark at first, and then became bright, like stepping out into the sun.

The light gradually faded to a comfortable level. I felt that I was standing, and then I was able to see my body below me. "Mom, Miyuki, can you hear me?"

My voice was projected through the audio on their terminals. When they responded, I could hear their voices internally, though I couldn't see anyone yet.

"Yes," Mother replied. "We hear you."

"There's a signal to your left!" Miyuki said.

"What kind of signal?"

"Don't know," she replied, and I imagined that she was shrugging. "But something is there. You'll have to go and check it out."

I looked to my left, and there was something there. It was a door, the sliding variety to be more precise, wide enough for several people to step through, and it had sort of a concave shape, like a segment from a cylinder. It was standing out in the middle of the nothingness, and I felt that there was something strangely familiar about it. "It looks like the door to some kind of rail car," I said. "I suppose that I am supposed to open it."

"Go for it," Miyuki answered.

I did. I opened the door, and entered an open area. There was a floor there, and the walls stretched up and over me into an arc. There were lights and potted plants, and to the left there was a ramp that ascended upwards into another room. Yes, that place was very familiar.

I whipped around quickly to face the door from which I had entered, and found a red transportation unit behind me. Above it in big letters were the words DURANDAL: PARK.

"Miyuki?" I asked. No answer. "Mom? Miyuki? Doctus? Anybody there?" No reply came and I realized that I would need to find an exit somehow on my own.

"Welcome back, MOMO!" I heard a multitude of small voices say. I lost my thought and turned facing the open space again to find myself surrounded by small, teal-haired girls. The 100-series realians of the Durandal were there, all together.

"H-hello," I stuttered back at them. These girls had been close to me, I would say. During the year that I spent working with the Kukai Foundation off and on, I had gotten to know each of them a bit. They were like distant relatives. That thought might have been comforting, but every single one of these girls had been dead for a long time.

And stranger yet, when I looked to the right, I found a sea of silver-haired girls. They were spotted throughout the entrance and some of them were inside the park area itself, playing with each other and with their 100-series counterparts. The Kirshwassers were silent as always.

"Have you been having fun here?" I asked them gently.

"Oh, sure!" one of the 100-series replied. It was the one who had picked up Mary's accent by accident. "Death for us hasn't been nearly as bad as you'd think it would be," she continued. "We get everything in your imagination all to ourselves, and we never have to work. The only thing this ship is missing is Little Master."

I was expecting something strange like this to happen, I honestly was, but it was just a little disturbing. It just had to be the Durandal, didn't it? The last time I had seen that beautiful ship, it was on fire and the bodies of people I knew were strewn everywhere. You had been so angry and not even Ziggy could fault you for it, and I had been so sad that I almost couldn't fight anymore, but that's exactly why I did keep fighting.

"I suppose you are wondering where you are," said another of the realians. "You are currently in your own domain. We have been borrowing it, hope you don't mind. We are connected to you in a way that we can not fully separate from each other. We are all connected to you and to this place."

"Thank you, I don't mind at all," I replied.

"We're all very proud of you!" another, more energetic one noted. "Your body is so pretty! I can't wait for Little Master to return!"

"We're all looking forward to that!" said another.

"Thank you," I said again. Then I felt something touch my arm and looked down to see a Kirschwasser pulling at my sleeve.

"She wants Albedo to return, too," a 100-series clarified, as if the silver-haired girl required a translation. Then I felt her arms clamp onto my waist and she hugged me.

"It's okay, sister,"I said softly, and petted the top of her head. "Albedo did such bad things to you... are you sure that you want to see him again?"

"It hurt," she said in a hushed tone, "but he made me understand. So. I want to."

"Then... I will bring him back for you," I said, resolved. "Please girls, tell me how I can leave this place."

"You're trying to figure everything out," said the Mary-emulator again. "But this is just your home base, MOMO. You're gonna need to go and wander in the outside if you wanna find what you came here for, and that's not easy."

"I'm only here to observe for now," I said.

"You'll get more than you came for then," she replied, and took my hand. "But don't fret! You go to the park, to that place where she spoke to you."

"Where she spoke to me?" I asked, as she led me up the ramp and into the park.

"KOS-MOS, silly! She's gonna show you the way."

I walked cautiously into the park and inspected the surroundings. Suddenly the small girl realians were no longer there. The firefly-shaped environmental bugs were all that remained. It had never been this empty when it existed in the realm of reality.

"KOS-MOS," I mumbled to myself and walked over to my favorite bench. I sat down there. "Yes, you did speak to me here. You tried to show my father's good points. Thank you for that." I relaxed and found that I could no longer rest my head against the back of it, I was too tall. "Where are you?" I asked aloud. "It would be wonderful if you could magically show up and just tell me where you are."

_I'm sorry, she isn't here._

That voice wasn't hers, nor did it belong to a 100-series realian. At the sound of it, I opened my eyes and found that in the moment I let my guard down, my environment had changed.

"Hello, MOMO. Welcome to the Unus Mundus."

My eyes focused and I looked around myself slowly for the source of the voice. I was in a grassy place, underneath a blue sky. There were trees spotted around. The wind blew through my hair gently. It was comfortable and inviting, a place where one might lie down and sleep for eternity with no complaints.

My eyes finally fell on the person who spoke. It was a young girl, a blur of white at first. Then I saw dark brown hair, and as I met her face to face, her green eyes.

I knew who it was. Though she and I were separate beings, I felt that I was attached to her somehow. Maybe we were sisters not in flesh, but in spirit. Sisters of the imaginary realm. I was unsure how I should greet such a person, so I mimicked her words. "Hello, Sakura." I felt unsatisfied with the greeting after saying that.

She smiled warmly and extended her hand to me. "I need to tell you something. Is that all right?"

"I feel lucky to talk to you," I answered. That was a little better. I stepped forward and took the offered hand. She was warm, and her hand was now much smaller than mine. It was a delicate thing.

"I wasn't able to speak to you for very long before," she continued on, still smiling.

I had to think very hard to remember what incident she was referring to. It must have been in my subconscious domain that time, when I could feel that you and the others were with me, but I could not speak to you. It was that time, when I felt the same way that she must have for her entire life.

Though Sakura does not exist in my spirit, we were able to hear her voice, because I am connected to her. I do not mind this connection that we share. If she can be closer to you through me, or... me through her... it makes me feel better. Though she is not a realian, she seems the same to me as those Kirschwassers who followed Albedo, or those 100-series realians who served you, those who lost their lives but live on within me.

"But now," she continued, "since you have reached the Unus Mundus, I am able to speak to you the way I wanted to. It is because I am also one of you, one of the souls that accept the anima. There are many of us. I readily accepted my death. I wished to be united with others. Maybe it was because in life, I was always alone."

"Aren't you bitter at all that you didn't have the chance to grow up? That you weren't able to be with Rubedo anymore? I mean-- uh... with Jr..."

"It doesn't bother me so much anymore," she said softly and reassuringly. "Are you worried?" she asked, and then she laughed.

She leaned her body against mine, and I froze still as she put her arms around my waist, and rest her head upon my chest. "Someday we will all be reunited," she said. "Me and you, Rubedo, Albedo, Father, Mother... everyone. And eventually, I will be born again. If I have some luck, I will meet Rubedo when that happens. There is no reason to worry."

I returned her embrace and held her tightly. I found myself not wanting to let her go. "Suppose we are sisters next time?" I asked. "How will we compromise?"

"I suppose we'll fight a lot," she said with a partial laugh. "But for now, I'm going to rest here, with everyone."

She slipped out of my arms and took a few steps back, still facing me. She still held my hand, but I could feel her pulling slowly away. "All I have now is a message for you."

"What is it?"

"Rubedo and Albedo need your help. Rubedo still needs you to support him. You must go to where he is."

"What do you mean? I don't even know where Jr. is right now..."

"Right now... has no meaning. You know where he will be, where he has been. Mother Earth, it is a place where we all will eventually go."

"Sakura... I... I don't know what all of this means. I believe that humanity wants to continue as it is. They push each other apart, but we all long to be accepted, to be understood."

"You'll understand," Sakura said. "You'll understand it as well as anyone needs to, when the time comes. I'll see you then."

She turned a half-step away and raised her arm. She waved at me. "Until next time," she said. "Goodbye."

I gasped in the sudden change of environment that enveloped me. "Goodbye Sakura!" I shouted, as her image began to fade away. "I will... I will take care of them for you, I will!"

The calming whites and browns of Sakura's presence filtered into the noise, and I found myself falling again. Millions of voices called out to me. Most were unfamiliar, asking who I was and where I was going, and a few asked if I could answer their questions; did I know who they were, and did I know what was going to happen to them. "No," I responded. "I don't know any of that, but just have faith."

Then, a few of the voices distinguished themselves from the blur and became familiar.

"_You're doing a good job, MOMO._" A dark, but sweet voice... Gaignun? _"Keep trying, don't give up."_

_"Looks like you people don't have a god after all,"_ someone said in a cruel tone. Then, regretfully, they said, _"and as it turns out, neither did I."_

_"We'll get another chance soon enough,"_ said another familiar person, and they seemed to laugh softly. Was that Jin, I wonder? _"Keep going, MOMO."_

_"Don't let Rubedo get out of hand,"_ said another voice, more serious. Canaan, it had to be. _"There's still a job to finish before any of us can rest."_

Then a voice I knew very well. _"You have fully earned your humanity. Now live, and be happy, my dear MOMO."_ Daddy...

Then, emptiness. I was no longer falling, but drifting. It was dark. I couldn't move. I had the strange sensation that I was seeing this through someone else's eyes, and that someone or something was watching me, watching them. "Who is this?" I asked, but my voice was soundless in the void. "Who are you?"

There was a large shadow looming over me, a gigantic planet with a great, swirling, red eye. _Location unknown._

"KOS-MOS," I said, though my voice made no sound. "Is this you?"

_Location... unknown. Reactivation... failed. Status... idle. 3 days, five hours, 42 minutes, and 25.062 seconds until shutdown. Final message._

That mammoth planet swirled eternally above me for years, it seemed, watching me. Then, slowly, it became white again, like a plain of fresh snow. All white, except for two outstanding points of fire red. Those eyes might have been mistaken for KOS-MOS, but they were not.

I walked and I walked, I kept trying to reach them. Then I ran. But like a rainbow, no matter how far I went, that set of eyes remained the same distance from me.

"I suppose I still exist," I heard him say. He had a soft, smooth voice. "I don't suppose the universe can honestly continue on and be rid of me. Or maybe I'm giving myself too much credit, and it really is simply impossible to cease to exist."

I stopped and settled with the distance I was stuck with. "Who are you?"

"I am not sure. None of the words apply any longer. Did you come here for an instruction manual? I'm sorry, it is not that simple."

I took a deep breath. Something about this presence put me on edge, aside from the obvious reasons. "Do you know anything about the encephalon?" I asked. There was nothing to lose.

"Of course I do," he replied. His voice was so flat, but it seemed like there was a touch of pride in it. "Strange that you of all people should take the stage and find me here. But I like that. It is... refreshing."

"Would you mind telling me about it?" I asked him. The owner of the voice paused as if he found amusement in how lost I was, then answered.

"The realm of imaginary numbers is vast, and most of it is entirely unimaginable to consciousness currently bound to the real numbers realm, even through the use of the encephalon," he explained. "That is why Vector developed a structure that allowed safe access. You mortal creatures would only get lost here. Right now, you have entered the realm classified by Vector Industries as Purgatory. This is where I exist for the time being. Not such a bad place, really. You've been placed here temporarily after being ejected from the Eternal Flow. This occurs because your own consciousness can not process the information. You, while living, can't perceive that realm for very long, unless someone invites you. Fortunately, your sister is very adept with the construction of encephalon domains. There is also the Beach of Nothingness, where many of these souls who are unable to rejoin the flow find themselves."

"You mean, the souls that became Gnosis?"

"Yes." He watched me while I though deeply about that, as if he could read exactly what I was thinking. "You can't heal them. Not even Yeshua knows a way to heal them. And yet he seemed so confident..."

I looked up at the mention of that name. It was what that man had called chaos. I needed to find him. I checked again and found that I was still unable to log out. "Do you know how I can get out of here?" I asked him.

"Although," he continued on as if I hadn't spoken at all. "I am relieved, now that I have the time to honestly think about it. I became so obsessed with the director's position that I forgot how enchanting it is to be part of the audience, to have no knowledge of the plot."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you are saying..."

"Well... I did receive a program, I suppose you could say. I know what scene is coming up next. So, you are the realian girl who held the Y-DATA. I suppose you must grow tired of being an accessory to the plot. Peter Pan's Wendy, not a very rewarding role. So you are ad-libbing a bit to steal the show. Good for you, I say. Good for you."

"I don't know much about plays, sir," I said as politely as I could. "Sorry... could you maybe tell me how to leave this Purgatory place?"

"It is fortunate for the others that you lived to see the end. You have a shining spirit, but I don't believe anyone would have taken a pink robe very seriously. But what a drama that would have been..."

"Sir, I don't--"

"Forgive me for going on, I have not spoken to anyone in such a long time, and I do love drama. For humoring me, I will give you a piece of advice that you will someday find very valuable."

"Thank you," I replied.

"KOS-MOS," he said. "Bury her among the white flowers. You will see them."

"What does that mean?"

Even if he would've answered me, the area started to collapse upon itself before he could. I was allowed to initiate a log out at this point, and I thought it was a good idea to do so. "Thank you, sir!" I called out. "Whoever you are!"

After everything had haded, I heard his voice. "You are welcome."

I came out of the dive panting for breath. "She's out!" I heard Miyuki gasp. My mother lifted the restraint over my head and I took my goggles off. For some reason my body felt exhausted though it hadn't actually moved.

"Are you all right?" Mom asked me.

"Yes, I am fine," I reassured her. I saw that she was very upset. "Mommy... sorry to worry you."

"It's fine," she replied. "Just a minor problem getting you back."

"What happened in there?" Miyuki blurted. "We lost you after you went through that door!"

"Ah, it was very strange," I said. "I saw people who I knew..."

Before I was allowed to collect my thoughts, Doctus spoke up. "I managed to intercept some interesting data," she said.

I stood up from the seat. My legs were a bit weak, and I had to hold onto Ziggy for support for a second, but I felt fine. I looked at the screen where Doctus had been working. "It's a rough image," she said.

I looked at the holographic data. There was a basic linear display, green and black, representing a star circled by several celestial bodies. Four tiny ones were on the inside of the rings, then there was an asteroid belt. Four enormous gas giants circled the outside. There were also several smaller rotating sub-planets and comets.

"What... what system is this?" my mother asked breathlessly.

"That's where KOS-MOS is," I answered, and leaned in closer, slamming my hands onto the console. "It has to be, I just know it! KOS-MOS is there, she's outside that big mass there!" I jabbed my finger into the fifth planet's three-dimensional image, warping it a bit.

"Really?" Miyuki gasped, and rushed over, hopping up and down. "Whoo-hoo! Hooray! We know where she is! We can go get her with the Penelope, can't we? Oh my gosh, this is great!"

"Settle down, Miyuki!" Doctus snapped sharply, and Miyuki did just that. "Look. All we have is this tiny map from the perspective of someone standing in the middle of this location. There are no absolute coordinates. We can't just jump there. This map doesn't match any area of known space, either."

"Tell me what the range of this map is," I said. "Can you estimate the maximum observational capabilities of whatever entity recorded this map?"

"Hm..." Doctus ran the numbers and then looked at me again. "They're about the same as yours."

Miyuki looked at me and her mouth fell open. "KOS-MOS's basic observational specs are the same as the 100-series realian prototype, aren't they?"

"Yes," my mother answered. "They were."

I was silent for a long moment, just staring at the hologram and nearly wanting to cry. "It really was her," I said in such a low tone that they could barely hear it. "She tried so hard to show me..."

Ziggy was quick to put his arm around me. "It isn't entirely useless," he said. "We just need more information."

"You'll just have to dive again," Doctus said. "Again and again until we can actually get there."

I took a deep breath and cleared my head. "You're right," I said. "We just have to keep trying."


	26. Fate and History

**Chapter 26: Fate and History**

_Are we there yet? Are we there yet?_

"Bwaha," I snorted, "Hey Shion! Are we there yet?"

Shion cast a glare at me. "For the last time, That is _not_ funny."

_It's funny when **I** say it._

It had been seven years. Lucky number seven. On the outside, I looked twenty. As Albedo and I had just illustrated, I was still acting twelve. Shion had just reached the big three-O herself. Shelley had passed it already, that was hard to imagine. Little Suou was four years old. If I was keeping track of things right, you would have been twenty-two. I guess that means you have potentially looked older than me then, on the outside.

Being out there for so long, more than anything, gave me some time to think. It's pretty funny how much I thought about you, compared to how much I was trying to tell myself I _wasn't_ thinking about you, or anybody else I had left behind. There's so many little things I never noticed until I had to sit and do nothing. Maybe that's what I needed all of this time. And when I needed somebody to understand where I was coming from with all this aging business, you weren't there.

_Hey, don't I count for anything?_

No, not really.

_Don't lie so casually like that, I'm hurt! _

You understand me and all, but you're not very kind.

_You just want somebody to lick your wounds._

Instead of rubbing salt in them? Yeah, I do. You are making me schizophrenic, too. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your help, but you do lack a certain feminine finesse.

_Bah. Fine. For what it's worth, I missed her too._

Then I guess we're on the same wavelength.

_Our wavelengths are identical, stupid._

Gah... give me a break, okay?

When we had passed the half-way mark, I threw a party. When we were one year away, I threw another party. And six months before, I began throwing a party once a month until everyone was pretty much sick of my parties. Then the one month mark went by. Three weeks, two weeks, one week... six days, four days, three, two one, hours, hours... then minutes. When it got down to minutes, I was jumping up and down.

"I think Little Master is gonna piss his pants," Captain Matthews said.

"I might, I might!" I replied. There was no denying that.

"You know," Shion mused, while she waited patiently. "You're going to need to learn to act your age when we get back. A man in his twenties hopping around like a flea isn't very attractive."

"Oh gee," I responded sarcastically, "I guess I could just slump my shoulders and mope around like Allen. That'd be really hot, wouldn't it?"

"Leave me out of this one," Allen groaned, for obvious reasons. Shion and I had been getting into little arguments every five minutes since the half-way mark.

The exchange was ended prematurely when the Professor and Assistant Scott came rushing in through the doors of the bridge, panting as if they'd both run the entire way.

"Full stop!" the professor yelled in his old, scratchy voice.

"I got it, geez," Tony said, and began to halt the ship. "We've been perfecting this flight plan for five years, do you think I would screw up now?"

I began jumping again as the ship fell out of the warp it was in. "We survived a spacial wormhole, awesome!" I cheered. There had been doubt in our minds, let me tell you.

"It has been approximately 9,995 years since we initiated er... warp drive," Hammer announced.

"Great," Matthews said gruffly. "Let's confirm that we are where we need to be, then jump back like we planned."

Hammer nodded. "We are currently two hours from our destination under normal propulsion."

"And you see?" the professor laughed. "We haven't blown up at all. A time warp was all that it took."

"I guess the odds of anything getting in our path even in 10,000 years were astronomically low," I grumbled. "But still, two hours? DAMN."

Shion laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Hey, it's better than a millennia, isn't it?"

"Lost Jerusalem should be in visible range," Shelley said calmly from her post. "As well as some of the other solar bodies in the region."

"Well I see the sun," I said, looking out at the monitor. All stars looked pretty much the same from a distance, balls of light. "Where's Earth? I wanna see it!"

Shion scanned the monitor. "That must be it," she said, pointing to another shiny spec. It was noticeably larger than the stars it was set against. "And that smaller spot around it must be the moon..."

"Wow," I gaped in awe. "Do you know how many people have looked up at the moon thinking it was some powerful entity?"

"Don't go getting all philosophical," Matthews grumbled. "It's Earth. Even I'm impressed, but I'd rather just get back to our own time."

"I hear you," I sighed. "We could look around a little though, can't we? We came all this way..."

"We are receiving several hundred radio signals," Shelley said calmly from her seat. "I can't make very much sense out of most of them, as they appear to be broadcasting in a variety of languages. They are coming from locations on the ground as well as satellites around the planet."

"Well, what the hell, put something on," Matthews commanded.

What we heard was a muffled noise and then a man's voice. "Hey hey hey!" he said. "You're our lucky 97th caller on WOW 97 FM!"

Then a woman's voice, ecstatic. "Really? Oh my god! Really? Eiee!"

Everyone exchanged confused glances as the interaction between the two continued. "Now for an oldie," the announcer continued. "Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-lot!" The following lyrics only called for more confused staring at each other.

"Entertainment...?" I muttered. "At least I _think_ that's what this is... Using radio waves for media transmissions is a little oldschool, isn't it?"

"This song is awful!" Mary scolded, and clapped her hands over my ears. "Little Master shouldn't be hearin' stuff like this!"

"For the last time, I'm _not_ little anymore, I'm older than you, dammit!"

"Don't talk to me that way, young man!"

Allen coughed to break us up. "Who knows what's happened in ten millennia," he pointed out. "They might have discovered this place, built a society, crushed it, and then built it again several times by now."

"I guess so..."

We continued to listen to "oldies" without understanding just exactly how _old_ they really were until the blue planet became large in our field of vision. We saw the dark side of the planet first, and there were lights. Thousands of lights sparked around the edges of continents and in every little space where human life could possibly be found.

"Lights?" Shion gasped, as we all looked on in disbelief.

"There must be millions of people living there!" I exclaimed. "This is Lost Jerusalem?"

"It sure is," the Professor grumbled as he hobbled up to the front of the bridge. "In the ten thousand years that have passed, they must have colonized this planet!"

"Sheesh," I whimpered. "Doesn't that mean that someone else has gotten here since we set out?"

"Could be!" Assistant Scott said with a sudden chipper attitude. "But hey! We're just gonna jump back anyway."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Then I guess we could just pick the guys up and haul out of here." The thought of that was laughable. I knew it was going to take more than that.

"Oh crap," Hammer began to sputter nervously. "Somebody sees us, somebody's located us, I think!"

"What?" The captain barked, "That's enough sight seeing, take us back, professor!"

"Confound it, don't go getting bossy!" the Professor grumbled as he readied the program, and then continued mumbling something about how we don't appreciate him enough under his breath as Scott assisted him. Then, as the captain was growing impatient, they both stopped and looked up. "Problem," the Professor said.

"What do you mean, _problem_?" Matthews barked. "Take us back!"

"There's some sort of paradoxical factor preventing us from using the time-space warp," Scott explained. The professor then tried to solve that paradox by kicking a piece of the bridge's equipment, but that only enraged Captain Matthews even more.

I was angry too. "You mean to say you guys went and got us stuck 10,000 years in the future?"

"Not permanently stuck!" he shouted in defense. "We just have to figure out what is causing the paradox!"

"C-c-captain!" Hammer stammered.

"WHAT?" Matthews groaned back at him.

"They're checking us out with radar equipment, this is not good!"

"Well, fix it!" this was accompanied by a kick to the chair Hammer sat in.

"It's not like I can help it," the navigator complained. "It looks like they've got military satellites everywhere. I'm detecting a wide range of really weird detection equipment scoping us out."

"Weird how?" I asked.

"Well it's all so outdated, I can probably block it, but..."

"That doesn't stop the naked eye," Shion said, and turned to Shelley. "We need to land somewhere on the planet quickly. Find us any place where we can enter the atmosphere and land pretty far away from civilization. Chose an ice cap if you need to."

"There is something slightly more inhabitable available," Shelley replied. "I have located a savannah which appears to be sufficiently isolated."

"Take us there then," Captain Matthews replied.

We watched as the Elsa descended to the planet after circling around to the light side. It was very blue, not a terra-formed concoction, but a natural beauty. Though the tension mounted, I couldn't help but enjoy myself. "Beautiful," I said. "Look how big the oceans are... natural, tectonic activity and all..."

"Yeah," Shion agreed. "I'm kind of happy that Suou will get to see it. I just hope that he is old enough to remember it."

We touched down in a dry, hot area. It was grassy, but flat. Because the bright blue Elsa stuck out like a sore thumb on this terrain, we implemented a masking device once we landed. The Elsa is small enough so that when it's not in flight, an amplified gadget of the type used in covert missions was enough to render the ship almost invisible. It couldn't be noticed until you were right up on it.

Despite the fact that we were stranded here, everyone was excited to get off of the ship. Wrong time or not, it was still Lost Jerusalem, our destination.

The first thing I wanted to do was run out and see what it looked like. After less than half-listening to a long string of warnings and explanations by the Professor, Allen, and others, I leapt out into the grass.

"Boy, it feels good to have my feet on the ground again!" I laughed, and began to run laps around the ship while the others watched me circling like some kind of circus act. I didn't care, I was on Earth. Mother Earth!

"Phew, it's so hot!" Shion said, wiping her brow. Suou trailed behind her, and didn't seem to mind, despite having been raised at a constant climate controlled temperature. He was wide-eyed and open mouthed, unable to say anything. After darting out of Shion's grasp, he ran straight to me and was jumping up and down excitedly.

"Look, uncle Jr.! It goes on waaaay out! It goes way far away!"

I picked him up and sat him on my shoulders. "Yeah, you can see even farther now, huh?"

"Whoa!" Suou gasped in amazement.

Allen came over and seemed very pleased with Suou's discovery. It's strange, the horizon itself was something the kid had never seen with his own eyes. Allen stood shoulder-to-shoulder next to me and took one of Suou's hands to help him balance. "Why don't you stand up and see how far you can see?" he asked. "Here, put your one foot on Jr. and your other foot on me..."

"I'll fall!!"

"You're not gonna fall!" I laughed.

"Awesome, awesome!" Suou shouted, and jumped up in the air. Allen nearly shrieked and caught him as he fell to the ground.

"You said I wouldn't fall!" Suou grumbled at me.

"Well duh, you're gonna fall if you jump off!"

Meanwhile, everyone else had piled out of the Elsa. Mary and Shelley, Hammer and Tony, Captain Matthews, the Professor and Assistant Scott. Though he had been extremely irritated with the situation, Captain Matthews immediately began taking pictures of the Elsa, which would later be labeled in a scrap book under "The Elsa's Lost Jerusalem Vacation."

Shion stepped over to Shelley, the only one being completely serious, and looked over her shoulder at the connection gear she was working with. "So, find anything?"

"I'm not picking up any humanoid life-forms in the area," she said. "I suppose that some scans might reveal the Elsa... but the probability of anyone finding us is very low."

"Any umm... strange signatures...?"

Shelley looked up at Shion knowingly. "You want to see if I can detect KOS-MOS," she stated. Shion winced, having been read like a book. "Unfortunately, no. But... I am detecting a high energy reading on this continent."

"Oh... hopefully that means that we did get back to the past and get her..."

"I suppose it could mean that," Shelley answered.

Shion put a hand to her chin in thought and began to wonder about the strange energy reading. "Could it be a high energy generator?"

"The technology of this civilization seems fairly low for that," she answered. "There seems to be evidence of nuclear energy, but nothing beyond that. No dark matter, and nothing on the scale of the Zohar itself."

"So this thing, what do you think it is?"

"I have no idea," she said. "I will have the others help me analyze this soon, but for now... I think that we should let them enjoy this moment. Reaching this planet is all we've been dreaming of for seven years now."

"You're right," Shion agreed, and smiled. "I wish we could do a little sight-seeing, but I'm really concerned about our purpose here."

"I'm sure that when it is time for us to act, we will receive a signal. chaos trusted that it would be so."

I ran over to the two of them and began to pull Shelley by the arm. "Shelly, no way I'm letting you work! Come on, let's have a party! We're finally here!"

"All right, all right," Shelley laughed gently. "But we really must get down to business soon. We've had enough of your parties."

"But-but!" I stammered. "Shelly, this time it REALLY calls for a party!"

We watched the sun set that evening, and then sat around the back of the ship watching the stars. After we'd eaten a meal, Suou went quickly to sleep in Allen's lap, tired from his long day of exploration over the square mile that surrounded the Elsa. He was mystified with every blade of grass that he saw, and then he discovered insects and was even more enthralled. I wished we could take him to a more wooded area to see all kinds of animals. But I slowly remembered that we had a job to do, and then we were leaving.

Once the initial euphoria had died down, even I was content with getting to business. "So, Shelley," I said, "what is it that you found?"

"An interesting network," she said. "I linked to one of the satellites and was able to access this planet's internet."

"How does that uh... _internet_ thing work?" I asked.

"It's a computer network system that people used for massive communications up until the creation of the UMN," she explained. "It was extremely popular in the twenty-first century, I am surprised you didn't know that."

"Well, I read _books_, you know? So, what did you find on the internet, then?"

"I was able to find boundless information on this planet. We are on a continent called Africa, which is broken up into several different countries. There are fewer industrial cities on this continent, so we should be able to avoid detection. I am detecting a high energy reading relatively nearby. I believe that it is worthy of investigation."

I yawned and stretched my arms. "Some of us will have to go check it out undercover then."

"More specifically, the area is known as Lake Turkana, which, despite being a remote location, has a strong archeological importance. An excavation of some point is going on there at this very moment."

"What are the local people like?" was my next question.

"Unfortunately, they have a very different physical appearance and manner of dress from our group. I would suggest slipping into the site under the guise of foreign researchers."

Shion nodded. "That would be easiest. This place is so strange... they speak so many different languages, they all stay in groups of people who look the same..."

I chuckled a bit at her statement. "Before instantaneous travel became available, that's just what was natural. I'm sure that if we get to go to one of the technically advanced nations, we'll see a lot more diversity."

"Ha," Shion laughed, "I'm kind of hoping that we'll get to go. I'd like to get a taste of this world while we're here anyway."

"This world," I said, "It is so similar to Earth in the past... are you sure we are in the right place?"

"Well," Hammer said, scratching his head. "This area of space lacks any kind of absolute coordinates or standard time, so I can't say beyond a shadow of a doubt."

Shelley nodded knowingly. "The dates I found do say year 2014, that's _A.D._, I remind you."

The Professor puffed his cheeks angrily. "Do you think I would make such a mistake as to go backwards instead of forwards?" I didn't have to answer, we all gave him a look that said _yes_. "Well," he continued, pride wounded by that insinuation. "Even if we went ten thousand years backwards, it would be 6000 BC, not the twentieth century."

"You've got a point there," I said. "Tomorrow we'll go exploring a little and figure this out. Hmm... who should go?"

"I guess Shion or me should stay behind for Suou," Allen said. "He's so excited... so I'll stay. Just promise you'll be careful?"

"Of course," Shion giggled.

"And I'd like to bring Shelley along," I said.

"Very well," Shelley agreed.

"As much as I'd like to go," Mary said, "You'd stick out too much with a big group. Y'all three go on."

"All right, then it's settled," I declared. "Everyone rest up and get ready for some real work!"

We adjourned our meeting and went to bed. I had trouble sleeping that night due to my excitement. _chaos might be somewhere on this planet even now_ is what I kept telling myself. I wanted to find him, I wanted to know that he was still there. I knew that he could show us the way.


	27. Good News

**Chapter 27: Good News**

It had been over seven years. Seven years since you left, and one year since I started down the path to adulthood. One year since I had been asked to dance, and my mind filled up with questions. Only a month since I had been so close to KOS-MOS, and yet I felt farther than ever. In the time that passed, we had no luck at all with the encephalon. It appeared that we would have to construct boundaries similar to those put in place by Vector just to make the thing accessible.

At that exact point, though, I was asleep, and it had been only four hours since I laid in my bed and closed my eyes. Then Miyuki called.

"MOMO! You will not believe this!" she shouted into the connection gear that I picked up.

"Ouch," I grumbled at the loud noise, and sat up. "It's the middle of the night."

"Oh, I like your pajamas," she said slyly. I was just wearing a t-shirt and some panties.

I had learned not to blush so easily around Miyuki, it just made things worse. I pulled the sheets up over my legs. "You're awful," I said, "And that's not helping. What do you want?"

"Oh!" she went back to being exuberantly excited and waved her arms up and down, nearly hyperventilating. "We have mail!"

"Mail?"

"Yeah, we found this package and it was addressed to us!"

"That's not unusual," I said, failing to see the point. "Can I pick it up in the morning?"

"You don't _understand_! We found this in space, it's been floating around for over three years! The message on it is-- it's--"

I had long learned why Shion was always so short with Miyuki. I never lost my temper with her, but I understood why Shion often did. "What is it?"

"Well, it says Elsa Von Brabant!"

I shot up from bed, pantsless and everything. "Oh, why didn't you say that to begin with?" I asked her frantically, and began throwing clothes on.

"Sorry, I'm just so excited!"

Without brushing my hair, I ran through the door. In no time at all, I was at the headquarters from where Miyuki had called and she was bouncing up and down behind a desk where a space-faring capsule had been opened. "There's letters for you in there!" she said, holding one in her hand. "I got one from Shion!"

"Really?" I asked, catching my breath from the sprint up the stairs.

"Yeah, here's yours!" she said, and forked over everything with my name on it. Then she made that trademark sneaky face of hers. "Do you think you got one from Jr.?" she asked teasingly.

"This is really not the time to be playing around," I replied.

"My gosh, you sound more like Shion every day!"

"What if they're stranded? What if they need help?"

"Oh, bah... whatever!"

By that time, I wasn't paying much attention to poor Miyuki. You can't blame me, with letters from my friends in my hands. I began to read them in order.

The first was just a standard holopad.

_Dear MOMO,_

_I sure wish you would have come on this trip. Shion can cook, but damn, she ain't pretty in the morning. She's always grumbling about doing the work, but if any of us does it, she complains that it isn't done right. Not to mention that the Godwins won't do anything that might break a nail. Yup, I wish there was a nice girl like you on board._

_Now, a smart girl like you ought to figure out some way to meet up with us 'round the bend. I'm sure you already have some big plan. You wanna know what Little Master's genius plan to save us all was? Pick a star, he says, any star! We'll fly to it! Yup, that's what he said, alright. You better meet up with us fast. This guy is **lost**._

_I wanted to ask you to pick up a few things for me in case we run into each other. I'll pay ya back for it, sure! First of all, I need as many cases of Gadalya Gold as you can crate. That's a beer brand, if you didn't know. Second, if the Seraphim Sisters put out an album, I want it. That's all! Well, other than to see your sweet little face again. You're the only one that's not totally useless. Well, the cyborg's okay. I would have taken him along if I had the choice. But he isn't very cute. _

_In return, I'll bring you a whole bunch of geocrystals and any other pretty things from Lost Jerusalem that I find! Those Godwins won't get their harpy claws on it, I swear. That's for MOMO!_

_Good luck honey,_

_Captain Matthews_

I was still reeling from the reality of this. Captain Matthews was talking to me again. I was actually communicating with my friends. This was really happening.

Next was on nanite paper, with flower print on the edges.

_Hey, MOMO!_

_Mary and Shelley here! _

_Don't worry yourself about anything. We're taking good care of Little Master. By the time we get back, we'll have him nice and trained, just like we did to Alby. We'll hand him over to you, and throw in a chew toy. Then you'll have two cute puppies to play with. In return, could you collect the numbers of any tall, dark, and handsome types you might run into? If they happened to be rich and well-dressed, that would be a plus. _

_Thanks!_

_Mary and Shelley Godwin_

I laughed, suddenly remembering my awkward moment at the party a year ago. I could have given him that boy's number, he was their type. Oh well.

The third note was on white stationary. It came with a recipe card and an invitation in an envelope attached to it.

_Hi MOMO,_

_How have you been? When we get back, you'll have to tell me about everything you've done. _

_Allen and I are getting married, right here on the ship. It's kind of silly, but it's for fun. We promise to hold a real wedding party when we come home. You and Miyuki could be my bride's maids. I wrote Miyuki, Togashi, and the others invites, too. Please make sure they get them for me!_

_I am sure that you are worried, but everyone is fine. We fight a lot, but it reminds me of a big family. I hope that you are doing well, and that your own family is still very happy together. I'm sure that you are. Say hello to Alby for me! _

_Jr. has been kind of mopey, but only when he thinks nobody is looking. He works so hard to keep us all looking up, but he needs somebody to cheer him up sometimes too. He is almost as tall as me now! Well, I guess that by the time you get this, he'll be taller than me. I wonder if you have grown any yet. I bet that you're a very pretty young woman by now, too._

_Are you still cooking? I'm sending you my new special curry recipe with this letter! Allen thought of a new secret ingredient for it._

_I'm sorry that it is taking so long to get back to you. We are working our hardest, and I know that you are too. I will see you soon, MOMO._

_your friend,_

_Shion Uzuki-Ridgeley_

I looked at the recipe and saw that the secret ingredient was chocolate. I wondered about it at first, but it turned out pretty well when I prepared it later. The invitation attached was sweet, addressed to Mom and Ziggy and me. I suddenly missed Shion and Allen and wanted to see their wedding very badly. The longing welled up, and it was hard to suppress.

Then, I was sad to see that there was no letter from you, but there was a box. It was a pretty silver gift box, and I opened it to find two beautiful, hand-crafted hairpieces inside, along with an assortment of slender pins. I gasped and took them out and turned them over in my hands for a moment.

"Wow!" Miyuki nearly shrieked. "Hey, those are geocrystals! Do you know how much those things cost? You could buy a whole planet!"

"I guess they found some," I said with a smile, and searched for a note or anything to show that they were from you. I found a simple, yet typically showy, little tag.

_Here's a souvenir from our trip._

_--Jr._

I smiled and shook my head in dismay. Somehow, I knew that you had tried hard to write more, and couldn't. I wouldn't know what to write you, either. It's okay.

But that wasn't all that was in the box for me. I noticed that the bottom of it seemed tampered with, so I lifted the bottom lining. Hidden in the bottom of the box, I found a hand-written letter scribbled in pen. The handwriting was uneven and slanted wildly in some places as if the writer had suddenly gotten very passionate at different points throughout.

_My Dearest MOMO,_

_To begin, I would like to say that I'm terribly sorry for my past unpleasantness; intruding on the core of your being, nearly killing you (come on, I knew that you would come around), and so on. Even Rubedo is still a bit sore about that. But I promise you that I am a reformed man, and I am sure that we can learn to coexist in the best interests of our mutually beloved red-haired fool. I must be saying this to suit myself, because I'm sure that you, in all of your purity and understanding, have already forgiven me for my grievous sins. _

_You may find it strange that I am writing this letter, rather than Rubedo himself. It took a great deal of doing, I can assure you. Don't get the wrong idea, it's not often I am even able to form a thought without it becoming one of his own (not an idea that I relish, but it's true). I can only assume that the reason I was able to write this letter in Rubedo's sleep without his knowing is that because part of him wants so desperately to speak to you, that he subconsciously allowed me the control to do so. The booze that Mary and Shelley gave him may also have had something to do with it, too._

_Let me, for once in my life, speak directly and clearly, so that you might understand. Rubedo has not written to you. He refuses to let himself think of you, and he avoids speaking of you to others. In the end, he's still a liar. I know well, because I have had the opportunity of merging my own heart with his, and seeing all that he holds dear. You have an enormous place there, next to his most cherished memories and dreams. He wants only your happiness, and so he hopes that you are not waiting for him, all cold and lonely and longing for him. _

_But I know, because I have glimpsed into your heart just as surely as I have known Rubedo's, something that he can't imagine with his limited perspective. I know that aside from pleasing your departed daddy dearest and your new family, that Rubedo himself is what makes you happy. It's all painfully ironic and sickeningly sweet, but that's exactly how you always are, sweet MOMO. _

_I know better than anyone that you will wait for our eventual return. You will lay holding this silly gift of his and dreaming, and wondering what it all means. You will eventually come to the conclusion that it doesn't mean anything, but you will still work as hard as you possibly can, in the hopes that you will see him again someday. _

_Perhaps my personality is slowly being absorbed completely by Rubedo, or perhaps by living through his eyes, I am seeing the world as he does. For some reason, I want to see you as well. I will always be Rubedo's dark side, his guilt and pain and self-loathing. But that's the part of him that you seek to soothe, isn't it? I doubt that you can accomplish that, but for Rubedo's sake, I am happy that you are going to try._

_See you later,_

_Albedo _

And with that, the reality of this finally sank in. You all were still out there, wanting to come home, you really were. I don't think that I was seeing it that way until that exact moment. I had been thinking of you as some distant relative who tends to forget that I exist except on holidays, or an old friend who says hi when I run into them, but who doesn't stick around. I felt like you were someone who had no trouble letting me go, though it tore me apart. But you're not like that at all. We were still tied together the entire time. Albedo knew it all along.

I told Miyuki that I needed to go back home and sleep some more. She agreed to deliver the other letters to their owners. I walked slowly to a taxi, and went home. My feelings were distilling the whole way back.

I laid in my bed and held the ornaments, along with all of the letters, in my hands as I failed to sleep, just as Albedo predicted; and I wasn't ashamed of that. I wanted to see you then, more than before. I didn't think that was possible. I finally knew that you cared about me, and I couldn't see you.

The next day, I went and bought copies of the Seraphim Sisters' last two albums to add to the collection I received at Keltia's reunion, along with a case of Gadalya Gold, which had just made it to our shelves recently. It was funny. Not that I drink often, but that was the first time that I wasn't carded.

Then Miyuki called again. "You will never guess what else was in that capsule!" she chirped.

"There was something else?"

"Oh yeah! Last night after you left, I scanned a huge information file that they sent us. Really interesting stuff!"

I gritted my teeth just slightly again, being careful not to look frustrated. "So... what was in it...?"

"Oh! Uh... the absolute coordinates for Lost Jerusalem," she said abruptly and simply, as if I'd asked her what she ate for dinner last night. "So huh... I guess we can go there now?"

There was a silence on the line.

"Ha ha..." Miyuki laughed nervously. "Pretty cool, huh? ...MOMO?"

I am sorry to this day, but I popped on her. "Are you SERIOUS? Why would you not tell me that earlier, Miyuki?!"

"Well," she whimpered. "You seemed mad at me the first time I woke you up... Wow, I've never heard you yell before! You're kinda cute when you're angry. ...MOMO? Are you still there?"


	28. Brother

**Chapter 28: Brother**

The site was several miles away, so first we had to procure some kind of transportation. That was harder to do than it sounds. There were no roads and we couldn't very well drive in on a "futuristic" land vehicle like the one Matthew's kept in the hangar in case we ever needed it.

After obtaining enough information regarding the current time, the Professor constructed a vehicle for us. I'm familiar with old cars. They had them everywhere on the Foundation for show. But this thing was a little different. It was a gigantic off-road vehicle called a jeep. It looked exactly like the real thing, but the engine was modern and would run without any fuel for as long as we could possibly need it.

After that, Shelley briefed me on other things regarding the era we were in. She gave me a set of clothes similar to the ones we found people wearing in pictures from the site, and we just hoped that they would help us fit in.

As I mentioned just now, I'm _familiar_ with old cars. I don't actually know how to _drive_ one. Regardless of that fact, Shelley and Shion were quick to put me in the driver's seat, and I was too full of myself at the moment to say no. I figured I would have enough time to figure it out by the time we got to an actual road. As you can imagine, I got the car stuck a few times and then I had to get out and work it free somehow. Thanks to all of this, it took two days to get to the place known as Lake Turkana in Kenya.

Once we were there, we parked the jeep in a discreet location and began to walk to the archeologists' camp. It was morning, and by the time we were in good visible range, it was almost noon.

The researchers were all staying in a temporary settlement outside a town near the lake. There were teams from several different countries pulled together there. Tents spotted the landscape.

I shaded my eyes from the sun with my hand. "Is there really an energy reading in a place like this?" I asked.

"That is what I am detecting," Shelley responded. "There is definitely something odd in this camp."

"Well," Shion said, "Let's try to blend in. It seemed like this group is made up of several from different smaller groups, so we can probably slip in without anyone thinking it's odd that they don't recognize us. If anyone points us out, we can just say we came from another team."

"So," I asked, "What's our first plan of action?"

"Well," Shion thought aloud. "Let's see what we can pick up by hovering around to start."

"Is that a spy skill you picked up in Scientia?" I chuckled.

"Just follow me," she answered with a slight annoyance. "Shelley and I should probably do the talking."

I laughed a little at that too. "I vote Shelley."

Shelley and I walked behind her as we made our way through the campsite. The farther we went, the more people we saw. We got a few strange glances, but no one stopped questioned us. We overheard bits of information as people walked about, most of it was complaining.

"I can't believe there's so many researchers here," a young man said to his friend when he saw our group. "I hope Dr. Masuda's team finds it first. It would be pretty unfair if the Americans found the thing after all the work he did."

"Yeah... Dr. Masuda's really confident there's something here, and he convinced a ton of sponsors to fund it. But that just calls attention to the project. Microsoft's in on it, even. What the hell do they have to do with archeology?"

"I don't know. Oh hey, did you see Will last night? He brought us a keg from home and then we saw Lexie and Karen..."

They went off on another subject and we passed on by. "Hey, Shion," I said in a low tone. "Wasn't it Vector industries that funded the first Zohar project?"

"Yes," Shion replied. "They funded it exclusively, I believe. That's why they had primary control over the Zohar when they created the UMN."

"Then who the hell is Microsoft?"

Shelley immediately began to research the name on her handheld device. It was a connection gear, but it didn't really "connect" to anything anymore, since the UMN hadn't been around for seven years. She did manage to program it to receive the internet, or whatever. She also removed the holographic function to avoid suspicion.

"Computer technology," she answered. "That's what they produce, I just looked it up."

Shion's face creased with a concerned frown. Shelley... do a search for Vector Industries, would you?"

"Yes, one moment," Shelley answered, and performed the search. Her expression became worried as well. "The only matches I found were unrelated," she said. "It's as if Vector industries doesn't exist at all..."

"Could it be known by another name or something? I know for a fact that they were founded before 2014."

Then, a tall man brushed by us, but I only gave him a slight second glance. He was slightly familiar, black-haired and all. He didn't really look so much like the guy I was thinking about in the face, but he had those kind of features, a noble sort of appearance, you know what I mean? He wore glasses too, and just seemed intellectual overall. He was certainly like many thousands of people that must exist in the world who just happen to look kind of like our old friend. I was just going to pass on by, to tell you the truth.

But Shion stopped and grabbed his arm.

"Jin!" She exclaimed.

The man returned with a quizzical expression. "Pardon?"

"Jin, don't you recognize me? What's the matter with you?"

"Whoa, Shion!" I reached out my arm to hold her back. "Hey, I know that he looks kinda like Jin, but..."

"You must have me mistaken for someone else," he said to us. "I'm sorry. What were your names again? Are you research students?"

"Um, yeah," I lied. "We're here for the excavation."

He nodded knowingly and gave us a deep "hmm," while he thought. "I guess if you are from another group, then you might not have seen my face before. I am Doctor Shitan. My native country is China, but I am here with the Japanese research team. Doctor Masuda and I are close friends, and so I was invited to participate in this discovery."

"Oh, I've heard a lot about you!" I said, trying very hard not to sound fake, and I shook the man's hand. "Well I'm Gaignun Kukai Jr., this is Shelley Godwin, and this is Shion Uzuki."

"Uzuki?" he said inquisitively, and looked at Shion. Her face went pale as she no doubt wondered what his connection to that name would be. "Isn't that a Japanese name...? But the rest of you are obviously not--wait, you must be the students who have come over from the American research team."

"Yeah," I answered. "Yeah, we're from New York!" I remembered that city from a movie.

"Then we are all a long way from home. So, have you two seen the excavation site firsthand?"

"Ah, no sir!" I replied. "We were brought along to tag artifacts and such. We haven't been up to the lake."

"Would you like to go?" he asked kindly. "I can show you there right now."

"We sure would!" I answered. Shion grimaced again at my level of enthusiasm, which she wasn't very good at imitating. Shelley wasn't either, to add to that.

We began to follow him to the excavation site. "Come on guys, act the part," I whispered, from out of earshot.

"Yes, Little Master," Shelley replied, then realized that she shouldn't call me that. "Jr., I mean."

"This guy makes me uncomfortable," Shion said, staring into the back of Doctor Shitan's head. "He doesn't just look like Jin... there's something about him."

"Well, let's keep cool for now," I said, trying my best to sound sympathetic. I really was, but there was also a part of me that just wanted to say _Shion, that's not him!_ "We can discuss it later."

"Yeah, right," she agreed, but she didn't sound happy. I didn't blame her. Jin was her brother. I half-hoped that this man could be Jin, if it would reunite her with him.

Dr. Shitan turned and noticed Shelley poking at her gear. "Are you really getting a signal way out here?" he laughed. "They must have the very best technology available to you students in New York!"

"Oh, yes sir," Shelley answered cooly. "The very best."

"What brand is that?" he asked her.

"Microsoft," she replied without missing a hitch. I taught her how to bluff, it made me kind of proud to see.

"Oh, Windows," he nodded sagely with another "hmm," and we thankfully avoided anymore conversation, though I never figured out what windows had to do with it.

We found that the excavation site was in plain view of the lake. dozens, if not hundreds of workers were digging away at the dry earth. Doctor Shitan smiled and seemed proud of what laid before him. "I'm afraid there's not much to tag," he said in a cheerful tone, despite the bad news. "But you can certainly help us dig."

"Oh, that would be awesome!" I replied.

And that is how Shion, Shelley, and I found ourselves dusting off rocks, all while having absolutely no idea what we were doing.

"This is my most unglamorous outing with you yet," Shelley complained in a cold tone.

"I know, I should have taken you both to a fancy restaurant," I sarcastically replied. "Just pick some rocks up and brush them so we don't get caught, okay? We're not on a date, geez..."

After doing this for quite a while, the doctor returned and took a look at our work. "Well, it doesn't look like you've found anything, but don't be disheartened! This could be the greatest discovery of the new millennium!"

"I'm really excited, sir!" I answered.

Before he had a chance to engage me in even more emotionally contrived dialogue, someone called him away. "Doctor Shitan," a tall dark-skinned man said. "Doctor Masuda wants to see you."

"Excuse me," he said to us, and then walked away towards a man who had just disembarked a jeep of his own. He was a small man in glasses, and he held a briefcase in his hand. One thing seemed obvious. According to every movie I'd seen, important things were hidden in suspicious black brief cases, and this was no exception.

Dr. Shitan left with this Dr. Masuda we'd been hearing about, and I rose up from my work. "It's getting late," I said.

"Little Master," Shelley sighed. "We haven't discovered the source of that energy reading, and it's too long a trip to make twice."

"But it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" I said, and they gave me blank stares. "Look, whether they know it or not... the thing they are looking for here is the Zohar itself."

"That seems like the case," Shion agreed, dusting herself off. "The original Zohar excavation... we must be picking up waves that are currently undetectable to this world's level of technology."

"We need to go back to the Elsa and figure out what to do about this, if anything," I said. "There's a few things bothering me."

"Me too," Shion agreed, though I knew that we were concerned about different issues.

Later, in the jeep, I drove late into the night before Shelley agreed to take over for me. I sat with Shion in the back, and noticed she wasn't using this time to get any sleep. Maybe she couldn't.

"So what's eating you?" I asked her.

"Jin's dead," she said.

My mouth opened but nothing came out for a second. "What?"

"I never told anyone, but I could feel it. Jin died..."

I leaned back against the wall of the jeep. It was a bumpy ride, that made it hard to sleep in any case. "I understand," I said. "I've got a brother too, don't forget. He died... kinda."

"He makes it hard to forget about him," Shion replied. There was less humor in her tone than she had obviously intended. "I'm not linked to Jin the way you are to Albedo, but... when I saw that man, I just could feel something."

"We're in the _past_, though..." I replied. "If Jin was anywhere, he wouldn't be here anyway."

"I hope you're right," she answered. But, as she had made clear in the past, me being right about something like this is a rare occurrence.


	29. The Harsh Truth

**Chapter 29: The Harsh Truth**

I had never felt so much hope and doubt all at the same time.

After analyzing the data further, we were able to pinpoint the supposed location of Lost Jerusalem. However, we found that there was nothing there. According to our search of that area, there was nothing at all in that sector of space, and it was extremely far away. You and the others could not have gotten there unless you had done something... well, I take that back. I never doubted that you would do something _crazy_, or that it would work. It only confirmed for me that you were not likely on your way back already.

When we overlaid the map that I received from my encounter in the encephalon, the two synced up. It was only that the solar system itself--the sun, planets, and other objects--seemed missing. That being so, I decided to go there and see it for myself. I thought that maybe there was something there that I needed to find. One more puzzle piece.

"MOMO!" Miyuki squealed as she approached me at the Scientia headquarters' docking bay. "Before we go out, you have to put this on!"

"Huh?" I recovered from her outburst and then looked at the parcel in her arms. "What is it?"

"It's a Scientia sneaking suit!" Miyuki said. "It's super great armor _and _it'ssuper sexy. My old one still fits, can you believe that? My diet really paid off! Anyway, I had Doctus make one just for you."

"Sneaking suit? that sounds like something out of a cheesy action video game..."

"Tactical espionage action!" she chirped in response.

I grimaced, unwrapping the outfit and examining it. It didn't have a skirt with it like the one i used to wear when I was smaller. "Miyuki... this looks like it would be really tight..."

"It's super comfortable!" she replied. "It's made from some really high-tech fiber too, nice stuff!

"Okay," I sighed. "If it was designed by Doctus, it must have function in mind and not just style... I'll give it a try."

I soon regretted that decision. When I came back out, my rear end was pretty much on display. Well, you've seen it. I don't really know how it helps in "sneaking" but it was pretty comfortable, as Miyuki said. I decided to wear it on the trip simply for that fact, since it would take several days going and coming back. Miyuki dressed herself up in a matching one. I had to admit that we looked almost professional standing side by side in uniforms that matched. Before, it had always looked like Miyuki was baby sitting me.

While Miyuki went away to make the final preparations, I stood in front of the Penelope. Her faintly rose-colored hull glinted lustrously under the lights in the hangar. I suppose it's silly to talk to your own ship as if it could hear you, but that is exactly what I began to do.

"You and I have come a long way," I said. "We have gone to so many planets together that I've lost count. But today, we will go farther than we have ever gone before." I smiled, and leaned against her.

"Ha... I don't suppose the origin of mankind would matter much to you, being a ship and all. I wonder if I should really feel so honored either. It's not the cradle of realian-kind, I know. But I feel like I will learn a lot if I go there, and it will be important to so many billions of people. Plus, we might run into a friend for you there. The Elsa, she's a nice ship." I giggled to myself imagining the Penelope and the Elsa enjoying a cooperative escort mission together. As I laughed, I reached with my hand and rubbed the hull lovingly. "If Jr. makes fun of your color, I'll scold him. I promise."

I heard Ziggy clear his throat and I turned. I hadn't noticed him approach, but he was standing at attention close behind me. Miyuki was with him, and she laughed and gave a salute. Even Alby fell into ranks. Doctus had given the little dog a collar with an infinity symbol on it. There was my crew.

"I'm so happy that all of you are here to embark on this journey with me," I said to them.

"You didn't honestly expect it to go any other way, did you?" Miyuki laughed, putting her hands on her hips and giving me her trademark eye. "You're crazy if you think I'm going to miss the big reunion! I have to give Allen a big slap on the back!"

"I have to agree with Miyuki for once," Ziggy said with a half-smile. "I'm your guardian to the very end."

"And Alby just has to see Jr. again, right?" I laughed. "Well then. Let's go. Let's not wait another minute."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Miyuki cheered, and gave me another playful salute.

My mother was standing behind them. She stepped forward and pat my shoulders lovingly. "You look great in your suit," she said with a little smile.

"Thank you," I replied. "We'll be back before you know it."

"I know," she said. "Tell Rubedo and Shion that I said hello."

After one last hug, I turned to face the boarding door, but I stopped when I heard Doctus's voice. "Hey, realian!" she addressed me as she called across the hangar. I made a face at the name and waited for her to reach us. She stood there with her hands on her hips refusing to come any closer.

"I thought we were past that name," I said.

"Never be ashamed," Doctus reminded me. "To call you a realian is the highest praise, because that is precisely what you are. You, singlehandedly, have made that title into an honorific."

I was so touched by that, that I couldn't say anything. I knew that I didn't need to go over to her, and that she didn't need to give me a pat on the back. "I'll bring back as much data for you as I can," I laughed.

"Don't hurry, if your boyfriend is waiting," she snickered. I knew I was going to regret telling her about that.

We boarded the ship, I took my chair. "Miyuki, please input the coordinates now," I said.

"Aye, ma'am!" she replied.

"Ziggy, please take the flight controls while I prepare our jump."

"I'm on it."

We were all smiling and full of such optimism, I could feel that this would work out, somehow. I knew that it would.

While the program was warming up, I thought about how far I had come, and what I had done these past seven years. I once thought that I would never find anyone I loved as much as I loved all of you, but since then, I had grown so close to both Miyuki and Doctus. I thought that I would have to bring you home, but I was going to meet you there. I knew in my heart that I would.

"Everything is ready to go, Captain!" Miyuki informed me. She was really getting into this whole star ship crew thing.

"Okay then," I smiled. "Initiate the jump when you're ready!"

"Initiating jump!" she called out.

The stars stretched out in front of us. The skies became pale orange like a sunset. We traveled through the longest column yet on record. That's when I knew that I was going to be with you soon.

The trip took three days to complete, even in hyperspace. The entire way I was in high spirits and Miyuki was ecstatic. We passed the time playing checkers a few times, and she couldn't pay attention long enough to king anything. As we dropped into normal space, each of us held our breaths waiting to see with our own eyes, Lost Jerusalem.

There was really nothing there, just black and black and more black.

Miyuki immediately began scanning for anyone in the area, while I ran observational scans. Our minds hopped to the next possible hope and then the next, refusing to let the enthusiasm go.

"I'm not picking up anybody," Miyuki said, depressed. Then she perked up and raised her head. "Hey, maybe it's the wrong place?"

"No," I replied, knocking her back down a peg unintentionally. "This is definitely the right area."

There was a silence as Miyuki continued scanning. "I am detecting a minor spacial distortion," she said, brightening up. "Let's see. If we lay KOS-MOS's map right over the area, then... yes, there is a slight energy reading right about where the star would be.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, and hopped up again. I have to admit, my hope was waning, but that made it return in full. "What was I thinking? We can't see it, we can't perceive it... That's pretty obvious."

She just looked at me puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Just hold on a bit, I'm going to program something for us," I said. I had that feeling of a million thoughts rushing through me all at once. "If it's here but we can't perceive it because it's enveloped within an imaginary pocket... then if we use the new boundless system as a gate then maybe we can jump into that pocket."

Miyuki laughed and began to help me. "Let's just hack into a realm of space that's totally undetectable, that's my style! Sure, it could turn our physical bodies inside out or melt our brains or something, but you know, we've done a lot worse before."

"I have no problem with it," Ziggy added. "And Alby doesn't have the verbal capacity to object."

There was nothing but the sound of our fingers flying at the keyboards for some time. Finally, the program was finished. We didn't know how much time had passed, but we were tired, we knew that much. But there was no way that we would be able to rest yet.

"Well," I said with a smile. "It's finished. Let's just hope that it doesn't turn us into Gnosis or anything." I was only half joking, really.

We ran the program and made another jump, but this time the ship itself wasn't really going anywhere, at least not as far as spacial coordinates were concerned. Our surrounding blurred and faded in the typical way, but there was anxiety in the air that made it a new kind of experience.

Gradually, it all faded away, and we were left in an area that seemed much the same, only now there was a sun, and several pale shining dots that signified planets. The star was bright and golden, but its light seemed feeble somehow.

"There we go!" Miyuki said, and she stood up and began to dance the trademark Miyuki victory dance. "I knew we could do it!"

"I'm putting together a basic map of the area," I said, wasting no time on celebration. "It matches the images we received in the encephalon perfectly. This has to be where they are..."

But as I continued to scan, I found nothing. The solar system that spread out before us was cold and dark. I had expected a bit more from the cradle of mankind. A lost civilization, a gigantic structure the likes of Zarathustra, or something like that. But no, there were only a handful of lonely, frozen rocks encircling a star in space.

"This is so frustrating!" Miyuki exclaimed, scratching at her hair. "All that, and there's still no signal from anybody!"

"One of these planets supports life," I said. "But I am not detecting any human activity there."

"You would only detect such a thing if there existed a certain level of technology," Ziggy said. "There could be some very primitive humans there, isn't that right?"

"I am detecting plant and animal life on a massive scale from the third planet, but even if we spent a great deal of time here, I don't guess we could disprove the fact that humans might live here," I answered. "The most important point is that I am not detecting any ships, or even KOS-MOS's signal if she were here."

Ziggy nodded sagely and looked out over the monitors. "Let's go to where you saw her," he said. "Circle around the largest gas giant. It would have been easy if we could have detected a signal, but the fact that we do not only means that we will have to search thoroughly."

"Right," I agreed. "Miyuki, how many fully functional probes do we have?"

"We have two fully robotic probes and two hundred support probes."

"Hm," I answered while I thought. "The mini-probes should be enough. Send three to each of the major planets, sub-planets, and smaller bodies. Divide the rest between the third planet and the fifth. The ones bound for the gas giant will need to investigate the ring and moons probably more so than the planet, so program that in."

"Got it," she said. "They will be ready in just a minute."

"While you are doing that, I'll take us to the fifth planet, and we can start off there."

We set off on our course and in a few hours, we were positioned to start our investigation. "I'm going to take the A.M.W.S. and check things out myself," I said, standing. "Miyuki, you take the helm. Ziggy, why don't you help her out?"

"I could go out in the A.M.W.S.," Ziggy suggested.

I smiled. "Ziggy, come on, it's not like I'm going to get hurt out there."

"I suppose you wouldn't," he said. "All right. You're more adept at piloting anyway."

I giggled, "Aw, I think you're very good at flying, Ziggy!"

"Good luck," he wished to me.

I went to Penelope's hangar where we had one A.W.M.S. in storage. It was outfitted by Scientia, like Doctus's own. It had been a special gift from Doctus some time ago, and though it wasn't my own to keep, the opportunity to use it was a gesture of her growing respect towards me.

It's name was Eos. Functionally it was for scientific observation, but it had been armed with a few decent weapons, enough to protect myself in the unlikely event that there were Gnosis here. That was about the only thing that could attack, since we didn't pick up anything human.

I donned a helmet that attached to the Scientia suit to make it air tight. That was one advantage of it at least, I didn't have to change.

Quietly, I ascended into the cockpit and started the A.M.W.S. The interior became transparent. The hangar door was opened and I stood on the brink of flying into this hidden realm. "I'm going now," I said to the bridge. "I'll contact you if I find anything."

I disembarked from the hanger in the Eos and gave the thrusters a boost. The planet was already visible in the distance. After a few minutes of travel at sub-light speed, I could see the ring, billions of sparkling shards pulled into an eternal rotation around the ominous planet. It's incredible red eye seemed to watch me as I slowed to a halt.

"I've reached the planet," I transmitted to the bridge back on the Penelope. "It's quite a view, but no sign of anything yet."

I watched the drones that had also been deployed as they flitted about and quickly faded into the distance. Their observational feeds were linked directly to my equipment as well as the Penelope's, but all they found was shimmering frost.

I began to wonder frantically, what if KOS-MOS had been pulled down to the planet and enveloped by that abysmal red storm that seemed to be scrutinizing my every action. Under the astronomical levels of pressure within the gas giant, even KOS-MOS's metal and nanite body would disintegrate like a grain of salt into the ocean.

A blip on my scanners pulled me out of my thoughts. It appeared to be a geocrystal. "I'm detecting a geocrystal in the ring of the planet," I said.

Miyuki's voice came back slowly and with some scratchiness. "I've read that they were plentiful on Lost Jerusalem," she said. "But..." her _but_ was drawn out with a small hope, "If it's floating freely in space, it's more likely that it came from a ship or something."

"They did have geocrystals on the Elsa," I said, and my idle hand brushed the pin that I wore with my hat. It wasn't exactly a good sign.

"It doesn't mean they _crashed_ or anything," Miyuki chuckled nervously. She has a way of bringing up the exact thing that you don't want to think about.

"I'll go check it out," I said. "I'll contact you in a minute."

Then I signed off so that Miyuki's attempts at consolation wouldn't make me more worried than I already was. In silence, the Eos skimmed on the trail of ice and dust, disturbing only minor shards that fell right back into their place again with a feint glitter.

"That doesn't look like a geocrystal at all," I said to myself breathlessly as I approached. It was a dull grey silhouette. Once I could see it clearly, I noticed a vaguely human form wrapped in dingy grey fibers. I didn't recognize the object's familiar shape at all until it turned in its eternal slow dance around this planet and I saw its face.

I gasped and covered my face with my hands, and I couldn't force myself to look. I was unaware of the time that passed as I sat shaking. Everything that I had been holding onto was gone. No joyful reunion, KOS-MOS would not greet me with some understated expression and I wouldn't laugh and hug her, and she would never find such an embrace unusual.

"MOMO?" I heard Miyuki say over the static in the communicator. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," I said back with a choke. My nerves fell apart. "Everything's okay, it's... it's okay! I didn't find anything, I didn't find _anything_!" Maybe if I hadn't seen it I could just keep going on hoping it would all turn out all right, and thinking that my friends were still out there, not that KOS-MOS and likely the rest of them had died horrible deaths in space--and then I was crying and speaking in whimpers because I failed to convince myself. It would have been scarier if I had managed to buy into it, though. "I mean... of course I did, it's-- I can't even say it, she's... and they tore her _legs off_..."

Ziggy's voice came through (likely after pushing Miyuki aside). "Calm down," he told me. "We know. We can see her on the drone's feed."

"Trust me, MOMO," Miyuki said, before I had chance to feel any worse. "KOS-MOS's damage always looks considerably worse on the outside. Just bring her back and I'll get right to fixing her up, I promise. She's not... she's not gone forever, you know?"

"Are you sure, Miyuki?"

"I _promise._"

"Okay," I siad, and took a deep breath. "Sorry. Sorry I freaked out."

"It's all right," Ziggy said. "It was the shock. You're fine."

As the hatch raised, my hands worked, thankfully, without my mind being completely conscious of what they were doing. Tears were beginning to blur my vision and I couldn't wipe them clean with my helmet on, but I managed to snap a cable to my waist and jump from the Eos in KOS-MOS's direction.

I caught her broken form in my arms and held her tight. The fibers of my suit protected me from the intense cold that she was saturated with, otherwise I would have frozen in place attached to her, doomed to join her in her slow waltz around the gas giant.

Her body was hard, much harder than normal, even. Her hair had gone gray and lifeless. Her power had drained to the point where not even her identification signal could be broadcasted, nothing on her body was alight. Her eyes were closed. She was, for all that I could do to save her, dead.

"Come on, KOS-MOS," I said, and tugged at the cord. I pulled her with me into the Eos and held her as the hatch closed back in place. Her cheek rested against mine, separated only by the transparent panel of my helmet. I would not set her beside me as if she were a piece of luggage. "Stay still, I will find Shion for you somehow... and you'll be fine..."


	30. Best Ally

**Chapter 30**

On that savannah at night, the stars were so incredible. It was like I was right out in space, but I was comfortably grounded on a planet. Instead of the feeling of floating in the vast emptiness that I experience when I'm adrift in space, from this viewpoint, it felt like I was witness to something greater that existed just above my head.

That is exactly why I chose to lay out on the grass just outside the Elsa for a while each night before I turned in. Although it filled me with a sense of awe, this particular view saddened me when I thought too hard about it. You where not out there, somewhere far across the galaxy. In this time period, you and the others were not even born yet, I thought. I began to wonder if I would ever see you again.

_Now Rubedo, once you invite doubt in, it starts coming over without calling first and ruining your free time..._

Suddenly, I distinctly felt a presence behind me. I heard no noise at all, but there he was. "Shit," I mumbled. He was standing right behind me. I knew it was too late to escape.

Though he had no weapon drawn, I could see was armed with both an 8mm pistol, and a Japanese sword, Doctor Shitan. The sight of the latter weapon confused me further. He was looking a lot like Jin even to me now. Either that, or fate was throwing some pretty hilarious coincidences my way.

"Excuse me, Mr. Kukai," he called out. "Now, it seems that when I shine this light across this patch of grass, that the light bounces off some invisible metallic surface. My first assumption is that this would be some sort of craft developed in secret by one of the militarily advanced nations. Perhaps the American government? But then, if you were a trained spy entrusted with such important equipment, you'd act with a great deal more caution than to be star-gazing. In fact, you were so indulged in your own world that you did not notice me shining the light upon your vessel at all."

I didn't move. I just looked up at him, upside down, from my place on the grass. "Great deduction," I said. "So what now?"

"So there are two explanations now," he continued. "Either your party somehow managed to steal this device, or... your group hails from an entirely different _planet_."

"That's sort of right," I said, finally sitting up. I didn't know what to say. Tell him we're spies? That would land us in even more trouble. At least this way, probably nobody would believe him.

Then, the docking door of the Elsa opened with a swish and Mary poked her head out. "Now you gone and done it, Little Master!" she shouted loudly. "I told you, keep yer butt inside this ship, now look what's happened!"

The Doctor smiled and gave a soft, familiar chuckle as I stood up and brushed the grass off of my clothing. "More friends?" he asked me.

"Yes, well... you might as well meet Mary, since you've figured me out and everything."

"I don't intend to interfere with your mission, whatever that may be," he said. He held his hands up in a pacifist manner. "I come in peace!" Mary claimed down from the docking door and ran out to join me as he continued on. "I believe that visitors from another world would certainly have humanity's best interests in mind."

"What is this guy talkin' about?" Mary grumbled, after sticking her elbow into my ribs.

"You don't need to hide anything from me! Oh, but I would very much like to see your true forms, if my human brain would be able to comprehend such a thing, of course. Are you beings of carbon, or pure energy life-forms of some kind?" Then he adjusted his glasses and stared at us both intensely.

"What the hell, man?" I responded, not sure whether I should be offended or just laugh. "We're not aliens, you weirdo."

"Oh," he exclaimed, and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Are you from an alternate dimension? The distant future? I promise that I won't disrupt the time continuum."

"Er... well..."

Then, Shion was outside in a flash. "Jr., what is that man doing here?" she shouted from the docking door where Mary had just been.

"I told him to stay put!" Mary shouted back. "But this boy doesn't listen, I tell ya!"

"Way to be discreet, guys!" I yelled at them both.

Doctor Shitan laughed, and Shion retreated back inside the ship. "I see that you have a little bit of a female problem," he said.

I had to chuckle at that one, and Mary shot him a mean look so I promptly shut up.

_Wa-Piiish._

What the hell was that?

_My whip impression, obviously. Give me a break, I don't have hands._

Whatever. While I stood there casually laughing with the Doctor, there was a scurry of feet inside the Elsa. Soon, the entire crew piled out, sans the Professor, Scott, and Shelley. Captain Matthews, Tony, Hammer, and Allen all stood behind Shion holding rifles and handguns, giving their most intimidating looks as they pointed them at the Doctor.

"I'm afraid we can't let you go!" Shion declared dominantly, while pointing a rifle. There was something hilarious about this, I just couldn't figure out what it was. If this guy was Jin somehow, it was pretty funny.

Doctor Shitan raised his arms in the air in submission. "I'll come peacefully, there's no need for that."

"Jr., take his weapons!" Shion demanded.

"Guh!" I stammered, "J-just wait a minute now, he's not doing anything wrong!"

"Who knows what will happen if we let him go! Come on, we have to take him inside!"

"Geez... you said it buddy, female problems... I tell you..." I turned around to find that the Doctor was kindly holding his sword and holstered gun to me.

"Please be careful with these, they're quite valuable."

"Little Master would never let a scratch come to an authentic gun," Mary nagged, and jabbed me in the back of the head with her finger as I took the items off his hands.

"I'm more worried about my sword," he replied. "It's extremely hard to find a good sword, and expensive."

"I'll take care of it," I said. "Come on inside, we'll give you some kind of awesome uhh... curry of the future."

"Curry of the future?" he repeated as I led him inside. "Oh, I do like the sound of that, indeed!"

So we led him inside, and he examined every object we passed as if it were some astounding artifact, from the snack machines to the laundry bin. Finally we drug him into the cafe and he was just about to start messing with the Hakox machine when Captain Matthews pushed him into a chair.

"Why did you come here?" he asked him roughly. "What do you want?"

"Whoa, Captain," I said, pushing Matthews back. "What's with the interrogation? This guy's okay, I swear."

"How do you know?" Shion asked me.

I looked strangely back at her. "He... come on, Shion."

Shion fell silent and I could tell she was hurt. This man was looking and acting more like Jin all the time, and it hurt her, I could see it. And I knew if I could see it, it must have been hurting her pretty bad. Allen could feel it to, and I decided to let him handle it. He's better at that kind of thing than me.

I turned to the Doctor instead. "So, did you come to chat with aliens, or what?"

"I'm sorry" he said. "But you couldn't honestly expect a scientist to stand by and watch when extraterrestrial forces are at work, could you?"

I sighed and scratched my head. "Well, the thing is... we can't really let the world know we're here. We're not supposed to be here, really... So what are we supposed to do? Hold you down until its time for us to leave?"

"Oh, I understand!" he said. "Well, I do have this... maybe it can help you understand your position?"

I leaned in, along with everyone else, and looked at the object he pulled from his coat. It was a big round plastic disc. "Oh wow, is that a real DVD?" I asked him excitedly. "Can I hold it?"

"Er, well," he responded awkwardly, no doubt wondering why I was fascinated. "I brought it to show you something that I recorded from television. It was a special that aired a few days after you arrived."

"Special?" Shion asked him. "Special what?"

"Oh my," he went on. "I should have known that you wouldn't have a DVD player..."

Matthews piped up from the opposite side of the bar. "Ay, get one of them droids!" he grunted at me. "Those droids have just about any kinda player on 'em."

I looked around the bar, and aside from the bar tending unit, there was a bunny droid there. "Here, Bunny," I said, and handed it the disc. "Can you display this digital information?"

"Certainly!" the bunny replied. "I will reroute this program to the bar's central viewing screen."

I sat back down and waited for the show to start. First there was an advertisement about cheese... then vodka. "You know, this seems like my kind of place," I chuckled. Then, the feature began to play.

A throaty announcer began to speak in this overly dramatic tone as various panned images were presented. "For decades upon centuries, mankind has looked to the stars, searching for any sign that we, as an intelligent race, are not alone." I found it kind of humorous that even four thousand years later, we hadn't found anything but Gnosis. After the embellishment-laden introduction, the narrator finally got on with the story.

"Imagine, a mysterious object suddenly appears in a relatively close proximity to earth outside of the orbit of the moon. It continues to approach the earth at a casual speed, unlike any asteroid or comet. It suddenly disappears from all radars just as abruptly as it appeared, but telescopes in various regions were already watching. Here is one of the few clear images recorded."

They then showed a very blurry picture of the Elsa. I was a little amused with the fact that we were on TV and laughed pointing my finger at it, while Mary looked at me like I was a lunatic, and the others didn't know what to think.

"Clearly," the announcer said, "this can not be a weapon developed by any country on Earth. Even if such a technology existed, its use would be impossible to cover up so effectively. The Science Channel is proud to present: VISITORS FROM ANOTHER WORLD."

"From wha?" I asked, gape-mouthed.

Shion stopped the recording, since it went on to list every minute detail of how we were spotting, along with a number of totally unrelated points. "So everybody thinks we're aliens?"

Shitan shrugged his shoulders and gave her an apologetic look. "It would seem that way. However, no one traced your decent to Africa, and the entire situation is being written off as a hoax, although a very popular one. Programs like this one are being played non-stop. I would suggest keeping a low profile if possible."

"Thanks for the info," I said. "But... I'm still not sure if we can all trust you not to spill the beans."

"Can I ask what you are here for?" he requested with a childlike gleam in his eyes behind his round glasses.

Everyone exchanged glances, and eventually they were staring at Shion and me, the leaders. Shion nodded to me, but it seemed like she was uneasy telling the story herself. "To tell the truth, we are not entirely certain what is going on," I answered him. "We are from a timeline that you would likely consider to be the distant future. In our time, a great cataclysm occurred, restricting all methods of travel across space. To remedy that, our Professor began screwing with the fabric of time and space. We were supposed to leap to the future to pass through a large distance of space, but it appears as though we've been transferred into the past somehow, instead."

"You mean..." he said this, and then stared at me for a moment in awe. "In your time, people have traveled so far... that returning to Earth is difficult?"

"It ain't just difficult," Captain Matthews interjected, "up until now, it's been damn impossible."

"Captain," Allen said quietly, trying to hush him without offending Shitan. "We shouldn't tell him any more than he needs to know... it could possibly affect the time line..."

"Well now," I laughed, "there's really no proof of that. I think the time continuum should be sturdy enough to take a little screwing with."

"You've arrived here at an extremely coincidental time," Shitan said in a darkened tone, pushing his glasses up. "I thought it was because of the Zohar..."

At the mention of that word, the entire room froze like a picture of us had been snapped. Finally, Shion decided to break her silence. "The Zohar?" she asked. "You know what it is?"

Shitan responded defensively. "I am shocked to find that _you_ know of it."

Shion looked at me, and I looked back at her. "I don't know if we should tell you," I said, returning my glance to the doctor. "Nobody is really supposed to find out about that for another four thousand years."

"But Jr.!" Shion finally snapped. "What if... what if we're in an entirely different timeline now, wouldn't it be best to let them know about the dangers? If this is really the twenty-first century, then the Zohar is about to-- it's about to-- We could stop it from happening!"

"If we do that then none of use will be born and we wouldn't live to come back here in the first place." I argued back. "There's no way to change the past, even if we tried... you remember what happened on Old Miltia."

Shion looked away in defeat, and I felt a pang of guilt suddenly for being so blunt, but she understood. "I'm sorry, Doctor Shitan," she said sadly. "We can't tell you everything. But please... tell us what you know about the Zohar."

"Aha," he laughed. "Well... we haven't actually found it. We've been looking for it. We're pretty sure that we have discovered a small piece, but its existence is known only to a select few, including Masuda and myself. That's exactly what this excavation is for."

Allen stood up and walked over to Shion, who was deep in thought. "Chief," he said, and he hadn't called her that in so long that it sounded strange to me, but it also had an endearing quality. "If KOS-MOS is not even here, then we don't have a lot of reason to investigate the Zohar. We just need to figure out what chaos wants us to do."

Shion turned on him in such a way that I also had not seen in forever. "Are you suggesting that we abandon trying to save KOS-MOS?" she asked him harshly.

"That's not what I am saying," he sighed. Old times. "But I think that if she is not here, our priority needs to be saving the universe. We can always find some way of returning to Lost Jerusalem in our own time, and maybe KOS-MOS will be there _then_. In this time, KOS-MOS doesn't even exist yet, does she?"

Shion's expression lost its aggression and only the sadness remained. She knew that he was right. "But I can _feel_ her," she said, and invited herself into his arms. "I feel like she exists here, even if it is the wrong time frame. I have to find her."

I was at a loss. Abandoning our hopes of saving the others was a concept that I didn't take lightly to. I balled my fists. "We'll investigate it," I said. "We don't have any other leads. Maybe Shion is right and we are meant to change the past. Maybe that's the key to saving the universe that chaos talked about."

Shitan smiled and spoke again. "I'm barely following what you are saying," he said, "but it sounds like some sort of disaster is about to befall humanity as a result of the Zohar's discovery. If this is meant to happen, then I accept the fact. However, it seems that if you people have appeared here at this very time, then there can't be any other reason for it. Things happen for a reason."

Shion stared at him blankly. "What did you just say?"

He looked back at her and blinked in an eerily identical manner. "Just a phrase I happen to like," he said. "I believe that there is some purpose in this universe for every event, and this can't possibly be a coincidence."

"You might be right," I said. "We will have to check it out. Would you be willing to help us?"

"I thought you might ask," he said. "How about coming to the excavation with me? With the help of Masuda's tool, we have narrowed down the field... of course, only the Japanese team is privy to this information, so you won't get in this time without my approval."

"We won't be putting your job in jeopardy will we?" I asked him.

"I'll consider it worth it, if you'll just tell me more about the future," he replied kindly. "Tell me everything you can. Forgive me, but I have a hunger for knowledge that I have a hard time sating."

I smirked. "Hey," I laughed, and slapped him on the shoulder. "You wanna see something _really_ awesome?"

"You're going to show him the A.M.W.S., aren't you?" Shion sighed.

_Because what kind of grown man wouldn't love a giant robot?_

"He'll love it!" I replied. "Come on, man!" I insisted, and drug Shitan out of the room. As we were leaving, I just faintly heard shion say _he never changes_, and I got the impression that she wasn't talking about me.


	31. Hepatica

**Chapter 31: Hepatica**

Miyuki and Ziggy allowed the ship to drift harmlessly and waited in the Penelope's hangar for my return. When the A.M.W.S. was back in its place, I opened the hatch and carried KOS-MOS down with me. I saw Miyuki cover her mouth to suppress her outburst as I set my feet on the ground and laid KOS-MOS down in front of me on the floor. She was surprisingly heavy. Ziggy was ready to support me should I need it, but I refrained for the time being.

Miyuki stepped next to the inactive KOS-MOS and kelt beside her, being wary of the temperature. She scanned over her with a connection gear device. "Ziggy," she said. "If you could help me transport her to the lab..."

"Do we have the right equipment for her?" I asked timidly, like someone whose relative was in the hospital.

"Actually," Miyuki replied smugly, "I thought it was very possible we'd run into KOS-MOS and that she might need some maintenance, so I had Togashi set up everything we could possibly need to repair KOS-MOS's frame before we left. Doctus covered the expenses. I didn't tell you all about it because I didn't want you to get disappointed if we didn't find her after all."

"Well it's good that you're prepared I guess," I said, as I watched Ziggy lift KOS-MOS from the ground. "Be gentle with her, Ziggy," I said softly.

"Don't worry," he replied with a half-smile. "KOS-MOS is my friend as well."

I smiled at that. "Thanks, Ziggy."

Later, KOS-MOS's temperature had been stabilized to normal without any problem so far. A hint of her hair color returned as a result, but she still appeared to be entirely lifeless. I guess it's just that... even realians breath. KOS-MOS never breathed before, so I don't know why that made her seem even more far gone... but it did.

"Hmm... the damage is pretty bad," Miyuki said. "I can repair her core, though. That old guy, the professor? He thought I was cute, so he gave me his Erde Kaizer plans for KOS-MOS."

"You don't have to uh," I said cautiously, "you don't have to actually _use_ those..."

"Oh, trust me!" she laughed. "I would never make KOS-MOS look like a big blocky robot! The point is, he gave me the core design that he made together with Shion and Allen, so I can repair it."

I smiled weakly. "That's great... I'll let you work... I'm going to go... to go um... take a shower..."

"Clear your head," Ziggy said. "I will stay by KOS-MOS for you."

"Thanks, Ziggy," I said again, and passed through the doors that led out of the lab.

The penelope, it was only a little smaller than the Elsa. The hangar would only hold one A.M.W.S. craft, and there was only one large room shared between men and women... it was only the three of us, and Ziggy never needed to change his clothes anyway. We didn't have a restaurant or even a strategy room were I could just go and be alone, so I took a shower.

I set my uniform in the laundry bin to be cleaned while I washed off, and then stepped in. I turned the water on, not as hot as I usually liked. My forehead pressed against the tile as I leaned against a wall. I didn't cry any more, but I was lost, because I knew that the only one who could really repair KOS-MOS was Shion, no matter how hard we tried.

At times like that I really envied Miyuki's ability to stay tough, no matter what the situation. It may seem like she's not taking things seriously, but she's just not letting things get to her. I knew that I had to try my best anyway, so there was no point in worrying if it would work or not.

After rinsing off and donning my now-clean Scientia uniform once again, I went back down to the lab to find that Miyuki had uncovered a set of legs and an arm to fit an android. "Feeling better?" she asked me cheerily as I entered.

"Yes," I answered. "Is there anything that I can help with?"

"I know android hardware isn't your specialty," she said, "but just help me run these diagnostics while I attach the limbs. She also needs parts of the torso replaced. Once she's back in once piece, she'll look a lot better, I promise."

"I believe you," I answered with a nod. "So let's do our best."

Miyuki grinned. "Now that's more like you."

We worked diligently for two days. Even Ziggy pitched in. Though he was not a technician, he did know enough about maintaining his own parts to help out with some of the hardware.

The limbs that Miyuki had on hand did not match KOS-MOS's latest frame. They were all silver, and lacked the large power attachments. Miyuki worked to integrate their design a bit, but even when finished, she was a little awkward.

"It's not perfect, but it'll work," Miyuki said. "She's all finished. The only problem is that the condensers we have on hand don't sync with the Professor's work... or maybe this goes all the way back to Kevin, I don't know. I can improvise, but I'm going to need an internal source of energy to get her running again."

"What kind of energy source could we fit inside of KOS-MOS?" I asked her. "Even her regular energy supply runs out after a while... and we can't really link her to the ship's power, like an A.G.W.S."

Miyuki turned on her heel with her fingers curled around her chin in thought. "If only I had a geocrystal or two, it would be enough to get her walking around... but even if we headed back, it would be nearly impossible to find a good-sized..." Then she turned back to me and a light bulb came on. She darted at me with her hands outstretched and I recoiled defensively in fear.

She plucked one of the pins out of my hair. "Aha!" she exclaimed. "We can use this!"

"B-but Jr. gave that to me," I said with an unintentional whimper.

"You've got plenty of presents from Jr.!" she argued, planting her hands on her hips. "Look, it's for KOS-MOS!"

"Well okay," I said in surrender. "If it'll help KOS-MOS..."

"Ha ha ha!" Miyuki cackled. "KOS-MOS's new power system will be the most advanced in the universe!"

I looked up at Ziggy. He shrugged. "Perhaps we should leave her to this part of the work..."

"Are you sure we should leave her _alone_ with KOS-MOS?" I whispered back.

But Miyuki did succeed in her plan. It was not long before the light on KOS-MOS's visor was glowing again. The sparkling lights in her hair returned with the breath of electric life.

"I'll try to boot her up now," Miyuki said, but this was the part I had been worried about. Miyuki attempted to awaken KOS-MOS, but it failed. She tried again three more times while I looked on, unsurprised. "Well damn this thing!" she grunted. "Why doesn't it work? Everything checks out!"

"Shion's not here," I said, without raising my head to look at Miyuki. My eyes were focused on KOS-MOS. "Her core reacts to Shion's presence... because it was Shion who nurtured the growth of the artificial feelings that developed there. Or maybe it was because of that blue-eyed woman... all I know is that she won't wake up for anyone but Shion."

"Hey, don't be so negative," Miyuki said, and pat me on the shoulder. "I've got a plan B. Listen, you and the other's were with KOS-MOS nearly as much as Shion was. Maybe some of KOS-MOS's feelings will emerge if you call out to her, too."

"How?" I asked.

"The Encephalon!" Miyuki said. "See, even when KOS-MOS was in sleep mode, she had an artificial subconscious that was extremely active!"

"We've been there before," Ziggy said abruptly. "KOS-MOS has called us to that place before. Not just Shion, but also Allen, chaos, Jr., MOMO, and myself."

Miyuki looked slightly surprised by that, I guess I had never mentioned it before. "Let's try it," I said. "Ziggy, would you come with me?"

"Of course."

We donned our dive units, the goggle-shaped variety, while Miyuki prepped us to enter KOS-MOS's subconscious domain. "All ready to go," she said at last.

I looked to Ziggy and he nodded. "We're ready."

"I knew you would be," Miyuki said with a grin. "Initiating. 3-2-1..."

Her voice trailed away as I closed my eyes. Like a bucket of paint tossed over my surroundings, virtual space enveloped us. When I opened my eyes again, it was bright, and I could feel the hot sun bearing down on me. My feet were bare, and I could smell the distinct scent of wet concrete.

"Ziggy?" I called out, but he did not answer. Instead, I found myself in a large crowd of people walking in different directions carrying strange items like inflatable inner tubes and straw umbrellas. Over their heads, tall plastic and concrete constructions had been built, enormous slides.

Just as I was wondering what kind of place this was, and furthermore, why I was now in my bathing suit, I felt two cold hands clap gently against my shoulders from behind.

"MOMO," I heard her say. "Would you like to join me on a rafting ride? The line to the tallest slide is moving at a rate of seven individuals per minute, and there are currently two hundred and twelve individuals in line. Obviously, this will take quite a while. Your company in this task would be greatly appreciated, otherwise I shall find the experience extremely boring."

I turned, and found my blue-haired and red-eyed friend staring back at me in her usual impassive manner, wearing her own swimsuit. My jaw dropped like the bumper of a car that had been rear-ended. "KOS-MOS!" I exclaimed, and watched as she took on an expression--yes, an expression--as if she were shocked that I was so surprised to see her. I threw my arms around her with enough force to send even her heavy body back a step.

Her puzzled reaction held. "Did you not agree to meet me here at Second Miltia's Wet and Wild Water Park?"

I released her from my grasp and stared back blankly. I had no idea where we were or why, and then... that very calm and wise voice spoke.

"If you two ride on the Daring Double Raft, then what am I going to do?" he laughed softly."

"Welcome, chaos," KOS-MOS greeted him. "You should ride with Jr. What is his current location? His tendency to arrive late is hindering our enjoyment."

I looked at chaos like I was seeing a ghost. He looked exactly the same, not a day older... not that it was such a strange thing for him, I guess. The most jarring this was that like KOS-MOS, he was just smiling and looking at me as nothing out of the ordinary were going on.

"Are you really here?" I asked him.

"_Here_ is really neither here or now," he answered to me. KOS-MOS failed to notice this cryptic explanation, leading me to wonder if she could hear him at all. "Why not play along and observe for a little while? KOS-MOS has been waiting for all of this time for a friend to stop by."

I looked back at him, deeply confused. I couldn't firmly agree, but I made no move to unveil this area and this situation as a fabrication.

Meanwhile, KOS-MOS was scanning the crowds for familiar faces. "My prediction is that Allen and Shion have gone to the swirling hot pools. Jin is at the bar. I'm afraid that they will not let him ride if he has a blood alcohol level beyond an acceptable reading. And of course, Ziggy would not find this task very enjoyable due to the nature of his cybernetic frame. That leaves only Jr. What is his current location?"

I stared back at her wide eyed and open-mouthed, and only a little sound with no meaning came out.

"Jr... couldn't make it," chaos explained gently, saving me from thinking of something, and he touched KOS-MOS's shoulder. "He was busy... with the Foundation and all."

"Oh, that is understandable," KOS-MOS replied. "What shall we do?"

"You and MOMO ride," chaos suggested with a smile. "I will walk with you to the top, then I'll just come back down. Or maybe we'll run into somebody else who needs a partner."

"If it is not an inconvenience to you, then I will agree."

"Not at all," he said. "I'd be bored if I just waited for you, anyway."

We approached the line, and stood together at its end. Other bathing-suit-clad individuals piled behind us. It wasn't for another long moment that I finally began to take in what was going on. KOS-MOS had created this place just for herself. I wondered if she spent her time walking around looking for the others, only to find that none of them were here. Or maybe chaos kept her company. I hoped that at least that was a fact.

I began to worry about Ziggy, wondering if his dive had failed or if he was simply at another part of the map. KOS-MOS seemed to have assumed he wouldn't ride, though I had a few ideas to make him.

"Hey man, no cutting!" I heard someone shout. There was a disturbance in the trail of bathing-suit-clad vacationers. The golden sheen of Ziggy's head became visible as he effortlessly pushed them aside in his quest to find me. I laughed at the sight of him because he always looked ridiculous in his swim wear, which included a mask and snorkel.

KOS-MOS pushed through the complaining individuals and announced loudly, "He is with our party!" over the crowd. Facing a commanding android and a cyborg as tall as a tree, nobody voiced any objections.

"Oh good," I said, and gave Ziggy a hug when I saw him. "Now this will be great! You can ride with chaos, Ziggy!"

"MOMO," Ziggy replied, ignoring the others. "What is going on?"

"Sh," I hushed him, and whispered, "KOS-MOS apparently doesn't realize what's going on, so let's play along for a little while."

He arched an eyebrow slightly at that. "If you think it's best," he replied. "And what about..."

"Good to see you," chaos interrupted. "Are you really okay with going down the slide together?"

Ziggy looked at me, and I just smiled back at him. I knew he would feel too guilty to say no. "Of course," he replied.

"I am also pleased to see you, Ziggy," KOS-MOS said. "I have made an error, I believed you would not come."

"Of course he'd come," I said with a giggle. "He wants to have fun with his friends too! We all do!"

chaos laughed a bit more heartily at that. "Well, it looks like our turn is up!" he said, as we approached the top of the slide's long line. "You girls get in a raft!"

I giggled as KOS-MOS tromped through the water heavily and pulled the raft in her direction with her weight even when I was sitting on the other end. I waved back at Ziggy. "Come down right after us, okay?"

"I will," Ziggy responded unenthusiastically. "Be careful."

And before I could say anything else, KOS-MOS and I were shooting down the slide in our raft with a huge rush! Water sprayed everywhere and I grabbed on to KOS-MOS with playful scream. She was silent and her face portrayed only a hint of joy, but that was likely from the fact that I was having so much fun more than it was that she was actually enjoying this. I suppose she wouldn't think much of a physical rush, with her lightning fast processors and all. It's a little sad, now that I look back on it.

The tube we rafted through twisted and the sound of my shouting echoed inside. Then the top was cut away, revealing the sun and all the noises of the park. All at once the tube stopped and we coasted through the air until our raft impacted on the surface of the water. We bounced out like hitting a bed full of springs, and fell into the water.

I was having so much fun, but underneath the water, suddenly it was quiet and dark. The water was colder than I had been prepared for. My first reaction was to surface immediately, but I looked to my left across my shoulder and saw that KOS-MOS was just sinking.

chaos's voice reverberated in my ears as if he were underwater with us. "She can't swim," he said in a tone made louder and yet muffled by the water. I thought it was awfully soon for he and Ziggy to have already followed after us. "She knows that her body lacks buoyancy. She can never drown, but she will never float. That is the extent of her frame's functionality, which was never meant to encounter such a thing as a body of water for the sake of personal enjoyment."

I turned my head around quickly in the depths of the pool. chaos was no where in sight, but he continued speaking. "She often dreams about the water, but she can not swim freely like the girl in her memories."

"We have to do something!" I answered, letting go of the breath that I held underwater. That was a bad idea. "Come on, KOS-MOS!" I said, swimming further into the water after her. "You can swim, just kick your legs!"

KOS-MOS looked at me with deep, empty eyes. She couldn't hear me. I held out my hand instead. "I know that you're alone. I know that you don't know who you are. Because there's a girl who existed before you, who they all loved before you, but I promise you... we can break that mold, KOS-MOS." And then with all that I had left I said, "We can do it together!"

KOS-MOS lifted her left arm and stretched her fingers out. I grabbed it with mine and pulled as hard as I could. Her eyelids lifted, her brows furrowed as her determination grew from a tiny seed of emotion somewhere deep inside her core. But she was too heavy. She was still sinking, I couldn't pull her up.

Then another arm shot past me and grabbed KOS-MOS's right hand. I looked up and found Ziggy there. "Come on, KOS-MOS," he said. "I thought that being a machine means that you don't have to think anymore, you don't have to feel anything. But even I have this second life to live. KOS-MOS--This is not your resting place. We can live as human machinery, we can do it together."

KOS-MOS began to kick her legs and slowly we rose from the impossible depths. "That's it," I continued to encourage her, "just kick as hard as you can, and we'll do the rest!"

And then, before the sensation of breaking the surface was able to reward our efforts, there was an abrupt change in time and location. Suddenly I was dry, and I wore light clothes over my swimsuit with sandals. I sat in a chair and I felt a vibration all around me. The sound of an engine hummed in the background. There was a squeak and a light gravitational feeling as the vehicle came to a stop.

A voice that I didn't recognize spoke to us through a speaker. "Second and Fifth, anyone departing on Second and Fifth?"

"No sir," I answered back, unaware of the fact that he couldn't hear me through the intercom.

I looked around. We were in some sort of long vehicle four seats wide with an isle down the middle. I was in a window seat, the scenery going swiftly past on one side as the craft took off again. It was dark already, and it had been only noon or so just a minute earlier. On my other side was Ziggy, just as confused as I was.

I stood up and turned my head in all directions. There were very few people on the bus. chaos and KOS-MOS were sitting in the seats across the isle from ours. KOS-MOS's head limply laid against chaos's shoulder as she slept peacefully, her body bobbing slightly with each stop.

I leaned over Ziggy to speak to chaos. "What is going on?" I asked him.

"KOS-MOS had a wonderful time today, thanks to the two of you," he replied. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course," I said quietly. "But... I don't understand."

"I have been waiting here a long time for you," he answered. "I've done my best to entertain her, but... I believe that she needed validation from someone other than myself or Shion, who were so close to Mary."

"I understand," I said with a nod. "I understand because I'm the same way.

"You're a kind and understanding person, MOMO," he told me.

I took a deep breath to keep my feelings from welling up, and spoke as clearly as I could. "chaos, we came here to restore KOS-MOS so that we can all find Shion and the others together. Where are you right now, really? Where are the others? How can I find them?"

"I'm afraid that I do not currently exist in the real numbers realm," chaos answered. "I promise that we will meet again, but for now I can only spend a few minutes with you in these strange environments that KOS-MOS somehow imagined."

I watched him raise his hand gently and stroke KOS-MOS's hair. "And KOS-MOS?" I asked. "How can I help her?"

chaos's face reverted to that expression of his that I often saw before, the sad and muted pain. "I am afraid that KOS-MOS must sleep now, and this time her sleep will be long and dreamless. I am sorry... you did come all of this way..."

I looked down at the floor of the bus and slunk back into my seat. Ziggy turned to chaos. "Is there nothing we can do?" he asked.

chaos smiled in his typical enigmatic way. "Oh... don't misunderstand. You have much to do. The others, they need your help. I can guide you, but you must go on faith."

"What can we do?" I asked energetically, and a good deal more loudly than I meant to, leaning all over Ziggy at the same time.

"The others were sent to find the key, but you are the ones who must create it. The object was destroyed, but through the power of human will... you will create it again. You must actualize that device, the key to the Zohar."

I stood up again, and stepped over Ziggy to stand in the isle. I kneeled down next to KOS-MOS and looked at her face. She was sleeping. It was not the same as her slumber on the Penelope. Here, somehow, I could tell that she was alive.

"What about her?" I asked. "What do I do?"

"You must leave her to the future generations of Lost Jerusalem," chaos said gravely. He held me in a gaze with his serious emerald eyes, eyes that held the truth in them.

I looked down once again in disbelief, unable to accept that.

chaos continued. "If you are ready, I will send you to the place where you will find it. Not even I know what will happen... are you prepared?"

"Yes," I said. I looked to Ziggy, and as always, he nodded in confirmation. "We're ready for anything, please send us there."

"When you acquire the object, leave it on the Earth. Humans will reach across every inch of the land. They will find it."

I swallowed hard and closed my eyes to gather my strength. "Yes, I will."

"And, MOMO," he added. My eyes popped open just soon enough to see him one last time. "We will all be together again someday. We cannot be separated. You know that, and you have nothing to fear."

"I know. I believe in you."


	32. He's Coming Back

**Chapter 32: ** **He's Coming Back**

Doctor Shitan was enamored with the entire idea of assisting saviors from the future. He may have been romanticizing it a bit much, but we didn't stop him, since it benefitted us in a big way. He cleared us with the lead archeologist, Doctor Masuda, so that we had free and unhindered access to the dig site.

We rode back with him in his own, totally normal land vehicle, which he had used to find us. I had no idea that old cars left such obvious tire tracks that remained in the dirt for days in this dry climate, but it turned out to be the best thing that had happened to us, because with him on our side, we wouldn't have to worry about improvising, or passing our gear off as normal. This time, both Shion and Allen came, and Shelley stayed back. I'm sure that Suou objected very much to being kept by the Godwins, but the two of them, who were deeply concerned with KOS-MOS and her possible connection to the Zohar, felt that they needed to be present for this.

The site hadn't changed in the last week or so since we had been there. People still toiled away at the dirt hoping to find something. Masuda assured us that they had evidence that pointed to this area which they had not shared with the other teams.

"Now remember," Shitan said quietly, as we approached the diggers. "You're not Americans this time, you're Canadian researchers from the Toronto Laboratory."

"Canadian, okay," I said. "Is there anything I should know about Canada?"

"Well, they do have a different accent," he answered. "But I think you're better off speaking normally than you are trying to imitate it."

"Gotcha," I nodded.

Shion began to snoop around. "You seem to have been digging an awfully long time to find so little..." she noted, watching the men work away fruitlessly.

"The geology of this region has proven to be extremely strange," he replied.

"How so?" she asked.

"Well," he began, and wiped the sweat off of his brow. "You may not know this, since from what you've told me, your artificial worlds lack any archeological history; but we can date artifacts by the depths in which they are buried. Layers of the ground can be measured in years. In this region, there aren't many earthquakes or other disturbances to warp the timeline. However, we have found something very odd."

"And what is that?" I prodded him.

"We dug deep enough to reach artifacts nearly ten thousand years old. Then we continued digging, and we found artifacts that were twenty thousand years old."

I put a hand on my hip and huffed a deep breath. "You know, you have a real tendency to talk in circles!" I said. "What's so significant about that?"

"Well," he said gravely, and adjusted his glasses. They glinted in the sun's light. "They were the exact same artifacts. The carbon dating even shows that this is true. This phenomena covers the entire Lake Turkana area, and I've never heard of anything like it anywhere else on Earth."

"So... something happened twenty thousand years ago, and then the exact same thing happened again ten thousand years later..."

"Exactly," he replied. "At first we thought it was simply a place where the ground had been warped, or something of that nature. However, the bone fragments we recovered were the exact shape and size. DNA tests from two of the identical pieces proved that they had come from the exact same human beings, ten thousand years apart."

"Okay, you got me," I laughed. "That is pretty friggin' weird."

"Maybe we really are in the future somehow," Allen said. "There's just too many factors for this to be the real Earth of the past... I'm lost."

"Me too, buddy," I agreed.

_Even I'm stumped, and I have seen data comprised of the entire universe. _

There was a short silence as the four (err... five, counting Albedo) of us considered that. Before anyone came up with any bright ideas, we were approached by the man I had noticed the last time holding the suspicious brief case. There was no brief case today, but he looked sort of nervous. His eyebrows were perpetually furrowed into a serious expression.

"Doctor Shitan," he said. "Are these the Canadian researchers you contacted me about?"

"Yes," Shitan answered. "As soon as we discover the artifact, they will prepare for it to be moved to Toronto as we planned."

He looked at us apologetically and reached out his hand in greeting. I shook it first, followed by Allen and then Shion. "Please to meet you," he said. "I wish I had more to show you, but we haven't had any luck."

"It's understandable," Shion answered him kindly. "I'm Shion Uzuki, this is Allen Ridgeley, and this is Gaignun Kukai Jr."

"Pleased to meet cha'," I said.

"The Toronto lab has been very cooperative," Masuda replied in an appreciative tone. "Do either of you know Ellen Verum? She's one of my brightest students, she's been such a big help."

"I don't know her, do you?" I feigned, and looked to Shion with a shrug.

"Well I've heard of her, but we've never met," Shion added. Nice bluff.

"Oh right, it's a big place. Never mind then," he answered.

Shitan cleared his throat and then changed the subject. "Would it be all right to show them the plate?" he asked.

"Oh?" Masuda answered, surprised. "Well, we can tell them about it since they are here from the Canadian lab after all, but I think I better keep the physical object under wraps. Please understand." I figured that must still be in his locked case somewhere.

Shitan nodded with that small victory. "It's a small silver plate in the shape of what we assume the Zohar itself must appear as in this physical realm. Our studies show that this object is highly powerful in its own right, capable of powering advanced ancient machinery."

All three of us were a bit blind sided by that one. I blinked and spoke first. "Uh... You guys wouldn't happen to have a really big compass laying around anywhere, would you?"

_So much for being discreet._

They both only looked at me strangely. Shion began to laugh forcedly. "Ah, that's an old joke from school!" she explained, and grasped my collar from behind. "Ha ha, Jr., you should know better than to make inside jokes like that."

"Sorry," I coughed, and she let me go. "Well, anyway..."

"I guess we'll concentrate on the northern cliff tomorrow," Masuda decided. "The ground there is harder, though, so we'll need to be careful."

Shitan nodded in agreement, but it seemed that this change in focus would not be needed after all. We heard a voice yelling frantically for him, "Doctor! Dr. Masuda!" and his eyes widened in excitement, still with his serious look, though.

"What is it?" he responded, immediately forgetting about us. "Did you find something?"

"Yeah," the man said, and nodded, catching his breath. "We followed the corridor from the lakeside. It matches the

location described in the research paper."

"That must be it! Good, show us where it is."

Masuda raced off with the man who had brought the news, and we followed after just as energetically, but with much lower spirits. "This might not be good," I whispered to Shion and Allen.

We were led to a space on the ground where there was an intricately decorated stone circle. The cut looked too clean to be ancient, but if this was a part of that lost technology, then maybe... There was a small recess in it with a familiar shape. It was a miniature Zohar.

"Yeah..." Allen agreed.

Doctor Shitan hovered over Doctor Masuda's shoulder as the smaller man touched the stone in awe. "This must be…" Then he reached into his pack and drew out a beautiful silver plate that glinted in the sunlight. It's shape seemed designed to fit into the recess perfectly. I had never seen the device before, but I could tell you from experience that it's not good to go around activating devices without knowing what they are going to do first. Of course, ha... took me a few times to learn that one, and it looked like it would take this guy a few tries as well.

My fists clenched and I turned to the others, my anxiety running high. "Should we stop him?" I asked frantically. "It may not be too late--"

"I don't know," Shion answered me. Her face was wrought with worry. "It is possible that we could change this world but..." I took a step, then I felt her hand clap onto my shoulder. "No, don't--"

I stopped. "Are you sure?"

"I just don't _feel_ anything," she answered. "I don't feel U-DO, I don't hear Nephilim's chime, right now... I just don't feel threatened for some reason. I can't explain it. I almost feel... warm, somehow. But I think... we should see what happens. Yes, let's just wait."

I had to admit that the reason my muscles were tense at that moment was because of my own experiences--the Zohar on Miltia, the confrontation with U-DO, the fear that I felt, things that I can never forget. I had quested to conquer the Zohar emulators to make up for that fear, to control it somehow. And then, they were rammed into Abel's Ark along with hundreds of people that I cared for. Ironically, the man responsible was also trying to escape his own fear.

_Let it go. _

"I know... I am, I just... The Zohar _scares_ me."

It was too late anyway. I couldn't help but wince as Masuda slid the Zohar plate in his possession into the recess in the stone. The three of us plus Shitan and Masuda waited with bated breath. For a brief second nothing happened, and my brain actually processed the thought that maybe nothing would happen and we could stop worrying. But that thought was banished quickly as the plate began to glow with a brilliant yet ominous sea green light. Then, the ground began to shake, growing more and more violent until it was hard to stand. Allen supported Shion as she tripped and somehow they managed to hold their balance together, while I fell on my ass with no one to catch me.

The humility didn't even register at the moment, as a jeep careened into a scaffolding structure, and the workers began to panic and run for their lives while yelling in any number of various languages. Huge black pillars jutted up out of the lake, teeming with unnatural lights and shaking the ground like thunder.

Allen helped me to my feet and, along with Shion, we watched the strange pillars and blocks rise out of the lake, locking together, forming a bridge out into the center of the water. Shitan and Masuda looked on, and I imagined it appeared even more mystical to them. All of us were more than used to this sort of thing happening, not that it calmed us down to have seen it before.

And then, all at once, the earth was still. There was a dead quiet moment as not a single person dared to speak. A light appeared over the end of the obsidian bridge. A blue center formed, and spread through root-like channels to form a larger shape. It was a shape that all of us knew very well. Solid gold matter filled in the space.

A light ascended from the Zohar into the sky. The clouds gathered and grew dark and gray. Then it began to rain, soaking the parched earth. Steam rose where the drops hit the ground, misting the entire landscape. The rich sound of the spatter against the ground broke the deafening silence that fell over us all.

"There it is!" Shion shouted through the sudden downpour, and she began to run towards the bridge. Masuda chased after her, wanting to be the first to witness this miracle himself. Allen sensed trouble as always, and raced after Shion as well. I was left staring in awe as Shitan slowly followed, taking in everything slowly and with deep thought. The Zohar loomed over the lake without any support or restraint. It was untouched by mankind, virgin pure, as if had just been born.

I could not feel U-DO's presence either, as Shion had suggested. This monolith failed to threaten me with the essence of my non-existence. As I looked at it, I noticed for the first time, its beautiful golden light. I felt the urge to touch it with my own hands, to feel that it was real. The tips of my fingers began to itch.

"Um... Jr?" I heard a voice say, which snapped me out of my Zohar-induced daze. It was a familiar voice that I would recognize anywhere. Suspecting its owner, I first believed that it was in my head. "May I please borrow your shirt?" he said politely.

"What?" I said aloud. No, that voice was not in my mind, it was directly behind me. I turned about face, away from the light of the golden monolith.

There, chaos stood. His bronzed body was bare and flawless like a child's, though he was the same age as I had always known him. His silver hair was drenched in the rain and he was shivering. I hardly acknowledged those facts when I saw him and shouted. "chaos!" Then I threw myself at him, nearly knocking him to the ground.

My best friend, as close to me as any of my brothers, was here with me again right now. All that time, I feared I had lost him, and I had never appreciated him enough when he was always with me. I pulled my arms around him and held him for a moment just to confirm that he was honestly present, in the real and physical world. "You're here, you're really-really here!"

"Easy," chaos laughed softly as I hugged him. "Don't crush me, please... You are a good deal larger than the last time we met."

He was right. I stood a few inches over him, now. "What the--!" I exclaimed, finally coming to my senses. I stopped embracing him, but now I was shaking him by the shoulders in a manic hysteria. "How did you get here? Where the hell have you been?" And then I hugged him again, and the poor guy was patient enough to put up with all of it.

"I've just been resting for a good long while," he said, and rubbed my shoulder. "But I'm back now. I won't be leaving again for a long time, I can finally promise that."

_Do you two need a room?_

I laughed and and sniffed in the beginnings of tears before they made me look too weepy. The rain helped me keep face, fortunately for me. "I think Albedo is jealous," I said.

"I'm happy to see that you haven't been alone all of this time," he answered kindly. "But Jr... really, would you mind if I borrowed your shirt?"

Suddenly I came to my senses and realized that he was butt-naked and about to freeze in this freakishly cold rain. "Ah!! Let me help you with that!" I took the kacki button-up shirt I had been wearing to fit in with the researchers over my normal grey one off and handed it to him. Luckily, it was long enough to cover him down to the thighs like a nightshirt. I really _had_ grown. "Sorry buddy, I was just a little excited! Of course! You can have the shirt off my back any day!"

chaos laughed as he buttoned it up over himself. "I know, it's good to see that you haven't changed a bit."

"Hey, everybody!" I yelled, as I grabbed chaos by the arm with one hand and started dragging him along, waving the other arm wildly in the air as if I'd found him in a crowd back on the Kukai Foundation and was flagging down the gang for a beach trip. "Look who's here!"

The others had stopped at different spots along the bridge and were staring up at the Zohar likely in the same strange stupor that I had been in until chaos called to me. "Guys!" I shouted, trying to snap them out of it. "HEY! GUYS!"

Shion turned her head so that her face was highlighted by the golden glow and I saw her expression. Despite her confident claim earlier, she was mortified by the appearance of the Zohar. But, the first sight of chaos eliminated all of he worry and doubt in her mind. I saw tears in her eyes as she quickly slapped Allen on the shoulder and the two of them came running towards us, away from the Zohar's inviting light.

Shion embraced chaos even more enthusiastically than I did, if that were possible. Then Allen, too, had to hug him. Like reaching out to touch the Zohar, it was something we couldn't help. We were drawn to him, and we could do nothing but be thankful that he was a guiding light which would never lead us astray.

"Long time, no see," chaos said in an understated tone, and he smiled. "So... how's life been treating you?"

We failed to answer. I looked from chaos to Shion, and she couldn't suppress a small snicker. I began to laugh, which made her even more incapable of holding it in. Allen joined in, until all three of us were just cracking up like fools. chaos smiled, though he didn't understand the joke.

"Did I say something funny?"


	33. Resonance

**Chapter 33: Resonance **

I opened my mouth, but I had no time to answer. The bus's interior faded into dark nothingness. Funny, how sometimes it's white, and sometimes it's black. Ziggy remained solid and I reached out for his hand so that we would not lose each other again. Hand-in-hand we fell, until our feet touched the ground with a light impact.

The sky was bright but overcast, a smear of white. The trees and grass were pale green and dry, the ground was dusty and its soil was light in color. Stone markers had been left to honor the dead all around us.

Before the familiarity of the place had time to register, I saw a crumpled form laying in the grass. "Miyuki!" I shrieked in recognition, and went over to her. Alby was with her, sprawled out in the weeds.

"Holy _Batman _," Miyuki groaned as I shook her awake. "My head, I feel like somebody ran over me with an E.S..." Alby agreed with a little puppy whimper. I smiled in relief as she sat up and looked around, because she appeared unharmed. "Well, Toto," she said to Alby, "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

"Is this that place where we fought T-elos?" I asked, looking up at Ziggy. We both had reverted back to our original attire, and Miyuki was in her Scientia uniform as well.

"You mean we're inside that imaginary numbers realm bubble thing?" Miyuki asked nervously.

"No," I replied, "We're still in KOS-MOS's encephalon memory data. You must have passed out in the real world and been sucked in as well."

"Ha ha, well it's good to know KOS-MOS likes me," Miyuki half-chuckled in sarcasm.

"It looks similar," Ziggy answered, giving Miyuki no attention. "But look..." He held his arm up and pointed a finger at one of the slabs in the earth. It had been cracked and busted wide open. There were stairs that led into a deep and musty tomb inside.

"That passage wasn't open before," I answered.

"Should we go in?" he continued.

"Hm," I nodded and raised my palm. With a little resourcefulness, I programmed a few of my internal nanite agents to gather into my hand, a low-level lightning ether controlled just enough to give us some light. "Here we go."

"Hey, that's neat!" Miyuki giggled. "And Alby has canine senses!" Alby barked energetically to confirm this.

"You first then," Ziggy said with a shrug. I smiled with a light playful smugness. I would never have expected him to let me take point.

I stepped down the stairway and into an underground tunnel with Alby following along at my heels. There were alcoves for candles along the way, but all of them had long been blown out and warped over time into unidentifiable shapes. The air was unpleasant, but far from unbearable.

We continued inside until the path widened into a room. There was a stone marker in the center along with two graves. More of the strange language recorded by my father was written on each.

"Can you read it?" Ziggy asked.

I examined it closely before answering. "The marker says... Children of Zebulun. The words an the graves appear to be names, but they are not in my database. What I can see though, is that one is a man and one is a woman... a father and daughter. The woman was married... and her father was widowed."

"That sounds... oddly familiar," Ziggy noted.

"Talk about creepy," Miyuki stammered.

"I wonder who the woman was married to," I said. For some reason this peaked my curiosity. "I can almost make out this one... Bar... Barthol..."

I knelt and brushed my hand over the panel on the grave to wipe away the dust it had collected over the ages past. As soon as my flesh touched its surface, the shapes began to glow with a magenta-hued light that sparkled with pearlescent color. I gasped and fell backwards onto my rear as I watched the light spread through the lettering and the engravings, revealing a complex pattern that went unnoticed until now. Alby barked in alarm as they connected into intricate shapes. It was familiar in a way, the lines that took angles and then branched almost like roots. They covered a little more than half of the room.

After recovering from the shock, I moved on my hands and knees over to the other grave and touched it. Nothing happened this time. "Strange," I said. "It looks like this would light up the other side, doesn't it?"

Miyuki kneeled on the other side and touched it herself. "You know, usually if something bad is going to happen, it happens when _I _touch it." But nothing happened.

Ziggy didn't say anything, he only knelt on his metal legs and touched the panel. I watched as an azure light sprung forth suddenly, spreading at the back of the room over the pinkish color, creating a bright violet where they crossed together.

And after that there was a slight shaking throughout the passage, not enough to threaten us with a collapse, but it made Alby yap. A golden light poured through the walls. A door appeared before us.

"Our path seems obvious," Ziggy said, as we rose to our feet.

"Yeah, I replied.

The three of us, plus Alby, lined up in front of the strange stone door. It slid upwards, into the wall, leaving an open passage through. A hot gust of air rushed out, causing Miyuki and I to wince as it hit our faces. "I'll go first this time," Ziggy said, and entered. I went right behind him, followed by Miyuki and Alby pulled up the rear.

There was a narrow stone path that led through a fire red chasm, cutting angles and turns like a maze along the way. The light that spread up the columns and along the walls was cast by a hot orange mass impossibly far below us. "Is that molten rock?" Miyuki asked in alarm.

"It appears to be," I answered, after scanning it.

"Don't fall," Ziggy stated flatly.

"Gee thanks, I'll try not to," Miyuki grumbled.

As we walked further out onto the path, we heard the sound of stone movement behind us, and the door had closed before we could so much as turn our heads. "Oh dear," I muttered, not that we intended to turn back, but this limited our options.

The troubling issue was that a second sound was heard, this time from the path that laid in front of us. We could see another door far in the distance along the wall across the chasm. The sound echoed from the small black hole, throughout the chamber. It was the sound of a creature crying in anger and pain.

"Tell me you didn't just hear that," Miyuki groaned.

"It sounded like... a Gnosis!" I exclaimed, and rushed past Ziggy with my weapon drawn.

"Wait!" Ziggy called out, and chased right behind me. Alby followed after us.

Miyuki called up her big, red, hand-shaped, M.W.S., and began to run. "Don't leave me here!" she said, screaming as she almost tripped with a yelp. Then she got up, and kept running.

Through the next door the air was not quite so hot, and the area was lit by a range of dazzling lights that ran along the stone paths. There were many more different colors, including the same magenta and blue that ran through the area they had approached from. Twelve pillars at the center rose high up into the darkness above our heads. Sparkling beads of light sprayed forth from the carvings around the large altar, but we were unable to note the beauty of the immense structure at the moment. The place was crawling with all varieties of our familiar enemies.

"There's hundreds of them!" Miyuki stammered as she passed me, and stood next to Ziggy. Her voice echoed through the structure, impossibly deep and impossibly tall.

"Thousands even," Ziggy agree, watching as they climbed pillars and beams up the walls and down below us into the ground. A gigantic whale-like Gnosis floated past us in the air. "Damn..."

"Activating the Hilbert Effect," I said, and reached out my hands. The area around my head began to sparkle with the aurora, then the wave spread out like a northern light from my body, solidifying the Gnosis.

"I-I-I-think you got their attention!" Miyuki shouted nervously, as one of the large ones swung our way.

"Hurry!" Ziggy demanded. "We can't fight them all, we have to run!"

I obeyed, and we ran into the center of the altar chamber. It was gigantic. We stood between the twelve enormous pillars, and to look up gave me vertigo. "Children of Asher, Children of Dan..." I muttered as I read the inscriptions. "Ziggy, these pillars represent the Anima vessels, I think!"

Ziggy was busy kicking one of the smaller Gnosis that had caught up with us over the edge, into the dark depths. They skittered down the narrow path in a mass. Ziggy found that luckily his encephalon projection was equipped with a trap device, which he set at in their path to save us some time. "What does it mean?"

"I don't know," I answered frantically, "but there is no way out!"

Miyuki charged her electric blast in the robot hand of her weapon and attacked a large barrel-armed Gnosis mercilessly. "Well figure something, this is gonna get bad!" Alby attempted to help by biting it in the leg viciously.

I placed my hands on the center of the altar and leaned on it, racking my brain for anything. There were just the inscriptions. Nothing else. But this was more than obviously the place we were supposed to find. That special sense of mine was on fire, and not only because of the numerous Gnosis. "What am I supposed to do?"

I heard Miyuki scream as the Gnosis struck her and Ziggy ran to her side to push it back, but it counter-attacked him with a horizontal swing that connected at his torso. He grunted as he nearly squashed Miyuki with his own fall, but quickly he help her to rise again. "We have to do something," he said. "This battle is futile."

"Come on old man, you've got more than that in you, don'tcha?" Miyuki chuckled through obvious pain as she struggled to her feet and charged her M.W.S. again. "Take this, ugly!" she shouted, as she punched another Gnosis with her lightning fist, then smacked another one flying with the sheer weight of it.

"Don't push yourself too hard," Ziggy replied, as he tried to maintain an effective stance with Miyuki, who moved about randomly. "Keep them away from MOMO, knock them down the sides if possible."

"For the captain!" Miyuki chirped energetically, though it was a front. Even she was aware that we couldn't last long in a situation like this. This is how KOS-MOS became injured in the first place, this is why chaos was separated from us. This is why Jin left us, with the honest intention of sacrificing his life.

I believe that is _why_ this particular task laid before us. Maybe it was my own guilt, that I couldn't do anything to aid them. All we could do was run away. The Gnosis refused the invitation we gave them. They rejected us. Therein laid our entire predicament. Though the Gnosis phenomenon was increased by Shion's unintentional call, and was calmed after the destruction of Zarathustra, those souls still had nowhere to go. They were here. They waited in this place for the thing that they could accept. And, unfortunately, after seven years of study, I still had absolutely no idea what that thing was.

"How can we satisfy the Gnosis?" I asked myself aloud. The trap had spent it's ammunition, and they were approaching in hordes. Miyuki and Ziggy began shooting flames simply to drive them back, unable to defeat them all. "They don't want to go... why?"

I remembered Commander Cherenkov, the only person I knew who had become a Gnosis right before my eyes. It was a horrifying experience, but in defeat, he seemed almost at peace. KOS-MOS was able to absorb them. But what could I do? I'm just a Realian, albeit an unique one. I am not even a human. I don't understand this rejection of the world, the fear of collectivity. But then, maybe that was the whole problem.

I looked down and saw that a strange light had enveloped my hands. This happened only once before, and we never knew why. Both Shion and I, our hands began to glow. It was strange, but it felt warm, somehow.

Miyuki, once again, was knocked aside. This time she had trouble regaining her footing, and spit a splash of blood from a wound in her mouth. "Dammit," she groaned weakly, as one of the large tripod creatures lifted her body with a forked limb.

"Miyuki!" Ziggy shouted, and attacked the Gnosis, but with a downward swipe of one arm, it nearly crushed him. He managed to remain standing as he pushed upwards against the Gnosis's limb with both arms and all of the strength in his legs. The stone floor beneath him began to crack s the pressure mounted.

I thought that surely I was going to lose someone else who was dear to me. Not only did I fail to revive KOS-MOS, or to find chaos, or to return my friends home, but I was going to lose someone else. If they would just _stop_ I thought, I would find a way to heal them. If they would just stop and _listen_.

"Stop it!" I shouted, and held my hands up, the palms flat and facing away from me.

As soon as I did this, there was sharp transition to complete silence throughout the entire chamber. I opened my eyes and saw something which I could not believe. Each and every Gnosis, the thousands of them, each of them had frozen in place like statues.

Ziggy recoiled and regained his balance, but his arms had been pushed beyond their limits and hung limply at his side. He watched me as I approached the Gnosis that still held Miyuki tight in its stone-carved pose. "MOMO, stay back!" he shouted, and then collapsed to his knees.

"It's okay," I said. "I think that..." I didn't know how to explain it, but I had this strange urge to just reach out and touch this Gnosis. To know that the both of us existed on the same plane. My right hand raised and lightly touched the tip of it's arm, which had attempted to smash Ziggy, and now hung motionlessly in the air. I gasped and jumped backwards in surprise, as a strange flush of color washed over the lost-soul-creature, and evaporated it. It slowly disappeared, until Miyuki fell limply to the ground. I ran to her side and held her up as the rest of the Gnosis's body disintegrated without a sound, as if it had never been there at all.

Miyuki raised up her hand. "Am I dying?" she asked me, as prepared a quick medica program treatment for her.

"No, of course not," I said in a shaky voice, not sure what had just happened. "You've been injured far worse than this before."

"Yeah but uh..." Miyuki whimpered, I could tell that she was in a lot of pain. She was not in critical condition, but had broken a few ribs, at least. "I think I'm... glowing? Can you see this?"

I stared speechlessly as Miyuki held her hand up, and it was surrounded by the same strange light as mine. I looked over at Ziggy. His arms were slowly repairing themselves and his lifted his gloved arm. It was glowing as well.

"Oh great," Miyuki laughed bitterly. "Are we turning into Gnosis? I was just joking before you know..."

"No, we're not," I said, and laid her against the ground. "Alby, watch Miyuki for a minute," I instructed. He agreed, and planted himself firmly at Miyuki's side.

Miyuki grimaced. "I appreciate the sentiment, but what is Alby going to do?"

"You'll be fine," I said. "Ziggy, do you need help?"

"I'm all right," Ziggy replied, and gave his metal arm, the one not glowing, a twist. "My body is responding again."

"Okay," I nodded. "Come on."

"What are we doing?"

"I think that maybe," I said. "I don't know how, but... I think that maybe chaos is sharing his power with us. With all humanity... and realian kind as well, perhaps. I don't know. But... just touch each Gnosis. Quickly, I don't know how long this will last."

Ziggy seemed hesitant to believe that, but he reached out to tap one of the small insect-like Gnosis that had frozen in it's pose. It began to slowly fade away, just the same. He looked at me with a rare expression of surprise, and then nodded.

We began running throughout the chamber, touching each of the Gnosis in turn, from the small ones covering the path, to the enormous craft-sized creatures. To finish this would take hours, and I was not sure how long the effect would last. If they all reanimated at once, we'd be dead for certain.

After laying idle for quite some time, Miyuki called to us. "H-hey uh, you guys!" she shouted loudly, because we had crossed over the path to one of the opposite walls that ringed the chamber and were out of earshot.

"Miyuki, lay down! You're hurt!" I scolded her.

"I'm fine now, but uh..."

I heard Alby yapping and focused my sensors on the altar once more. The light from the evaporated Gnosis had gathered at the center of the twelve pillars. "I'm reading wavelengths resonating around the pillars!" I announced.

"There's uh... a thing..." Miyuki mumbled. "A glowey thing at the center here..."

"Keep going," I said, and slapped Ziggy on the shoulder. "I have to see what she means."

I left Ziggy to the task, and ran back to the Altar where Miyuki had managed to sit up and now leaned against one of the altars, the one representing Dinah, to be specific.

"There," she said and pointed at the altar, but I could see it well enough. At the center of the flurry of light and wind, my sensors had outlined a small solid object. It was metallic and flat, a plate of some sort. I took a step towards it.

"You're not gonna touch it, are you?" Miyuki asked me in disbelief, and held onto my sleeve.

"I'll grab it," I said. "How else can we figure out what it is?"

"Uh... make Alby do it!" she argued. "He's a good lab dog!"

I smiled as I escaped her grasp and approached the altar. "Relax," I said and pushed my hand into the center of the light. "It can't be _that_ bad, can it?"

Ziggy stopped what he was doing and watched me from across the chasm as I touched the object. He pulled a face that showed his disproval, but he didn't call out for me to stop.

I pushed farther and farther into this entity, until the light was blinding. Once again, I could feel the millions of voices. I had trouble seeing and hearing Miyuki and Ziggy now. There was so much pressure. So many angry people, so much hate. Rejection. But I refused to reject those souls, and they clung to mine. My hand grasped the object, and I grasped the hand of every lost soul.

A flash of light burst from the center and spread throughout the entire tomb, dissolving each of the remaining Gnosis. Their souls merged and were absorbed by this object, this key. I screamed as they rushed into me, and suddenly I couldn't remember my name. I couldn't remember Ziggy or Miyuki, or my mother. I struggled to remember, but I couldn't recall your name. Your name.

For a moment there, or maybe for an incredible expanse of time, I'm not sure I could tell either way... I suppose I wasn't myself anymore. I was all of those people, together. I was a resonating will, a willing collective. It didn't hurt. There was actually something comforting about it. But I think... I think that I like being myself a lot more, at least for a little while longer. We are meant to pass in and out of this world, I began to understand.

So... my soul didn't collapse. I didn't die. Maybe because even though I couldn't remember who you were, I knew that I had something that I was supposed to do, to help someone else. I knew that I had to find someone. Maybe that is what they call a "shining will."

When I woke again, I was looking into Ziggy's face. All of the Gnosis were gone, and Miyuki was now able to stand, but the ground was shaking. Apparently, we were in trouble.

"That door is still closed!" Miyuki was spouting as I regained consciousness. "How do we get out? Wait--- how do we end this encephalon dive?"

"Usually, when this kind of thing happens..." Ziggy droned, patiently. He hadn't noticed that I was conscious. "It just... ends itself... eventually..."

"Ends itself?" Miyuki squeaked. "What if it wipes all of our brains? What if--Oh geez!"

I couldn't laugh, but I wanted too. The last thing I remember is that Miyuki was jumping around nervously as pieces of the area flickered out of existence. I heard her voice echoing into the void as we were set free. "Go easy on me, I've never done this before!"

When I opened my eyes, I was looking at the ceiling of the lab. I was laying against the floor, having fallen out of my chair. Before I thought even to look around to see if the others were okay, I heard a sharp chime, and there was a sparkle in the corner of my eye. A metallic object fell through the air and clattered to the floor with a musical clang, bouncing on its sides like a coin until it finally reached a resting position.

I sat up, and picked it off the floor carefully. Holding it between my fingers, I turned it back and forth, aghast. I held in my hand, a small Zohar replica, made of an undefinable silvery material.

Miyuki suddenly popped up with a jolt and felt her sides with her hands. "I'm okay!" she announced. "Oh man, was that all just a dream?"

"No," Ziggy answered as he opened his eyes. He saw what I had in my hand. Alby too, looked up at it in amazement. "We found the key... to be inherited by future generations of this hidden world, along with KOS-MOS. It was chaos's wish. Now all that is left is to determine the best method of doing that."

Miyuki stared back with a frown, completely lost, I imagined. "Well," she said as she rubbed the back of her head. "Not to dampen the mood, but I'd call that a bust."


	34. Field Trip

**Chapter 34: Field Trip**

After the Zohar appeared, the focus of the camp switched quickly from excavation to the safe monitoring and relocation of the object. Since we had been posing as the team there to fit the Zohar for retrieval, it was imperative that we get out of there before anyone noticed that we were full of bull. Luckily for us, Doctor Masuda was the only person we had really been introduced to, and he was now far too obsessed with the Zohar to notice or care if we were not the same people from the real Toronto team.

We took chaos back to the Elsa. Shitan told us that he would take care of some business first, and then joined us. chaos's reunion with Hammer, Tony, and the Captain was surprisingly tearful. They had been comrades of chaos for as long as I had been. They were possibly even closer to him than I was. He was like Tony and Hammer's big brother, the one who held them all together like glue.

Mary and Shelley were overjoyed to see him as well. The professor and Scott were eager to run him through a number of rigorous tests, but I managed to save him from that fate by a narrow margin. We were all happy, in one way or another, to finally have one of our guys back. It gave us hope for the others, and for our own fates.

Suou, who hadn't been allowed to see Doctor Shitan when he was here, looked at chaos in awe upon their meeting. That made chaos the first person from the outside world who Suou had ever met. From then on, he was constantly hovering around chaos's feet. chaos became instantly fond of the little boy, as well.

We came up with some clothes for poor chaos, who had none of his own. I had to learn to come up with some acceptable clothing on the way here, when my height started to spring up quickly. These generated clothes were still a bit every day for my liking, but they fit, so he and I wore them without complaint.

We were waiting for Shitan outside the ship the next day, watching Suou play outside again. Allen and Shion encouraged him to play outdoors while he had the chance to do so, but they were busy analyzing some data concerning the Zohar at the moment, so chaos and I took a turn watching him.

"I didn't know that you liked kids so much," I chuckled as we sat on the ramp and watched Suou trying to do a handstand in the dirt a short distance away.

"I do," chaos replied. "It's hard for me to remember... but I think I may have had one of my own. Or at least someone who I thought of as one."

"Really?" I asked him with a sly grin. "That's news to me! Did sleeping in the Zohar for a few thousand years give your memory a jump start or something?"

"I still have trouble remembering things," chaos replied. "Because of the passage of time, because it all varied slightly with each passing cycle... but most of all, because it was painful and I wanted to forget."

"Hey," I said softly, and slapped chaos on the shoulder. "You know... I never asked you anything about yourself, before. I knew it wasn't my place. But I'm here if you ever want to say anything. Or even if you just think there's no reason not to. You don't really need a reason. We're friends, right? I promise that I am never going to take any of my friends for granted ever again."

_Says the man who left half of them on the other side of the universe_.

"Yes," chaos replied with a smile and a nod, as I ignored Albedo. "Friends."

His eyes returned to the horizon and he held his arms around his knees as he sat. The wind blew his silver hair back, and I could see the reminiscing look on his face.

"I have never told anyone," he said. "I thought... that to burden others with details of my past would bring undue stress to everyone, including myself... I'm just a failsafe, meant to watch until the time that I'm to be used, not to become involved, or to get others involved. But... I realize now that we must learn to know ourselves and each other if we want to save this world."

"If everyone in the universe suddenly became at peace with death and lost their fear of the collective unconscious?" I droned. "Nope... that's not gonna happen. I don't think it's ever going to be that way. I hate to be a downer, but... how can we get everybody to know each other? That's against human nature."

"I think it's possible," chaos replied, and his tone turned hopeful. "All of you have accepted it. Why can't others?"

"Some people just _can't_," I replied with a sigh. "Look at my dad, for example. Or that whacko, Sellers. Or the inquisitors Margulis and Pellegri, who killed themselves."

"Their circumstances led to their decisions," he replied. "The workings of the universe are not arbitrary. Though I do function as a failsafe against the inevitable collapse of the universe, I believe that it is possible for it to continue without collapsing if the right balance is struck. In our world, existence was so fragile... I believe that people's wills grew weak, which made them susceptible to that fear. They lacked control, they were unable to make their own choices, to accept this world for what it is, the good and the bad. The increased number of people possessing this fear overloaded the natural processes of this universe."

"How can we change _that_?" I asked in growing frustration, and scratched my hair.

chaos looked up at the sun and smiled in a mildly playful manner. "Maybe you could write a book," he said with a small, almost inaudible laugh.

"It'll be a real miracle if my book sells ten copies," I laughed awkwardly in return, then I laughed with the next thought that popped into my head. "Maybe you could get U-DO to write a book, that'd work!"

"The words of God were recorded by mortals," was his response to that.

I had to return the smile honestly that time. "I think I'll stick to action-adventure."

"Iiieee!" Suou screeched suddenly. We looked up to see Shitan approaching in his vehicle. Suou ran behind chaos and hid himself. "Uncle Jr., there's a monster!!"

"That's just a car, silly," I laughed. "It's a machine, just like the A.M.W.S., only smaller."

"Oh," he hummed curiously, coming out from behind chaos's legs, and mentally placing the car into the "robot" catagory along with anything else mechanical.

Shitan parked and stepped out. He shielded his eyes from the sun and looked up at chaos and I, who stood on the ramp. "Good to see you're still looking well, Mister chaos," he said.

"It's just chaos, please," chaos responded meekly.

"And you can call me Shitan, then," He agreed, as he reached us. "You know, there are millions of people in this world that would find your method of arrival here to be an enormous spiritual event," he said with an uneasy grin. "Are you sure you wouldn't appreciate a more respectful title?"

"You have me confused for someone else, I'm really not that special," chaos said reassuringly. Though honestly, I had to wonder sometimes. "Come on inside," he said. "You too, Suou."

"Oh!" Shitan noticed Suou, who once again took to hiding behind chaos. The boy was surprisingly shy sometimes, I was beginning to notice. He was probably hiding behind chaos and not me because he knew I'd pick on him for it. "I'm Doctor Shitan. Nice to meet you, Mister... I'm afraid I don't have your name."

"Suou," he replied, and stepped out into plain sight. "Uzuki-Ridgeley."

"Oh, this is Shion and Allen's child?" he asked. "I had no idea."

He knelt down on one knee to reach eye level with Suou. Now this was sweet and all, but I have to tell you that it was freaky to watch. They had the exact same color eyes. Their hair was the same jet black, the same thickness, with that slight curl at the ends.

"I think I have something that you might find interesting," he said, reaching into his pocket. Suou watched with intense interest as he pulled out a simple compass. "Do you know what this is?"

"Nuh-uh," Suou answered, shaking his head.

"It's a compass. It always points in the same direction, North. You can have it, see if it works on other planets as well when you find them."

"Cool!" Suou cheered, and instantly began testing it out. "Thank you!!"

Shitan laughed as Suou ran back out into the field and began running in circles, amused by the needle's ability to stay in place.

"And I promise that is the largest one that I own," he said to me, shooting a confused glance my way. "Just what was all of that about?"

chaos also looked at me like I'd done something stupid. _That's because you **did.**_ "Ah, long story... nothing important," I said, laughing it off.

We entered the Elsa and went down to the lab, where Shion, Allen, the Professor, and Scott had been working ever since the Zohar appeared.

"So what's the verdict?" I asked as I entered with Shitan and chaos.

Shion rose from her chair. "Well... I still say that U-DO is no longer inhabiting the Zohar," she said, "but that can be good or bad. U-DO was a control system after all, whether it was beneficial to humanity or not."

"You've got a point," I said. "It's like the Zohar is running without a pilot now. I can't say that it's worse than having a being from a higher dimension in charge, but it doesn't sound very good."

"I'm afraid that I can't supply you with much information," chaos replied. "The last thing I remember is that Nephilim absorbed Mary's power, and with Abel, she went to Lost Jerusalem. My power of Anima was dispersed by that somehow... I ceased to exist physically, just like the Zohar itself."

"And that gave the universe more time," Shion continued for him. "But not much more..."

chaos nodded. "This place," he said, "It is not Earth of the past, though it is very similar. When the souls of the Gnosis who accepted the shift were revived here, the history of mankind was repeated in a natural order, almost like Eternal Recurrence, except for that this time, the old universe was not destroyed. Wilhelm no longer exists in this world, and it is free to continue growing naturally. There is no Vector, no Ormus... No Yeshua or Mary. Humans on this planet are completely in charge of their own fate."

"Then what happened to our old civilization?" I asked him.

He answered grimly. "I do not know."

I sat down in a chair and rubbed my head. "I don't want to think about it."

"But the end of the universe," Shion interjected, "isn't it soon? How can that be? We don't know what is going on!"

"I believe the answer to that may lie in Wilhelm's absence itself," chaos explained. "Without Wilhelm, and with Nephilim now imbued with Mary's power, if things are allowed to continue along the original course..."

"There is no one here to seal Lost Jerusalem away to protect the rest of the universe from being swallowed up," Shion answered. "When they activate the Zohar--"

"It would be like the gates of hell thrown open," I finised for her.

"Yes," chaos replied. "Even the souls that willingly followed when I used my powers during the transfer, as well as the remaining consciousness that MOMO managed to harmonize in the past, will once again separate from the overwhelming flow and threaten to destabilize both the real and imaginary numbers realms."

"MOMO did what?" I asked, catching the name like a brightly colored flag. I'm not sure I understood the rest of it.

chaos smiled. "MOMO fulfilled her part of the work," chaos answered. "Ten thousand years ago."

I think that is when it hit me. We were ten thousand years into the_ future_. You and the others were long dead from this perspective. That hadn't bothered me when I thought that we'd only be staying here for a moment, but now it was beginning to look like we could never go back. We may succeed in saving the universe this way, but I thought... what if I never made it back to you like I promised? I promised that I would find a way back. But... it was beginning to look like this was a one-way ride.

chaos continued. "We must somehow stop this human race from using the Zohar that was summoned."

"But how can we do that?" Shion asked him. "The only way to stop someone from ever using it would be to seal it away for good, and we don't have that capability."

"Mizrahi sealed it on Old Miltia for a while, but it still _existed_," I added to that. "So... even if we managed to seal it, it may not solve the problem."

"I don't think that is the answer either," chaos replied. He had a look in his eyes that I could only describe as decisiveness. It was not something that I found to be characteristic of him, but I was glad to see the change. "We must set a lasting balance here, which can be maintained by humankind."

"I like the way you're talking," I said. "Let's do it, then."

Shion nodded. "I don't know how to fix things, but we've got to go to find out!"

"I'll take you to Toronto," Shitan interjected. We all turned to look at him. "I still don't know what's going on really, but I want to help you. I... managed to take this..." He held out an item covered in brown paper. "I don't think anyone suspects me. They think the Americans took it."

I took the package from him and unwrapped it. "Well I'll be damned," I said. It was the Zohar plate.

chaos walked up to peer over my shoulder at the object. "MOMO," he said softly, and the name got my attention instantly. "She and the others struggled quite a while to make this for us," he said. "The original plate was destroyed along with Zarathustra. She worked extremely hard, never forgetting about any of you for a moment, and created this plate from the wills of dispersal."

"This is the key?" Shion asked. "To saving the universe? And MOMO created it 10,000 years ago? How did Dr. Masuda end up with it?"

"That, I can't really tell you," chaos replied with a slight shrug, as if to say that the details of that issue didn't matter. "But I find this all amazing. Somehow, across astronomical reaches of both time and space, all of you working together managed to find the key that would save this world."

"I believe the key came from France, originally," Shitan explained. "It was bought from traders by Masuda's family centuries ago, and they have been studying it ever since."

"France..." chaos said somberly. I was surprised to see that he recognized the name of a place on this world. But then, I suppose he did live here at one time.

"Can you really take us to the Zohar?" Shion asked him.

"I can take you to the _facility_," Shitan added, smiling awkwardly. "And maybe a few levels inside, depending on what kind of security they have. Getting to the Zohar itself will be tricky though."

"It isn't like we haven't done this before!" I said, rubbing the tips of my fingers on my guns. "In fact, I'd really like a chance to storm a place for once!"

"We're not going to hurt anybody," Shion scolded me. "They don't have medicine like ours, your guns would kill anybody in this era instantly."

"Yeah... I guess that's not really fair to them," I grumbled in disappointment.

_What? Shoot them anyway!_

"No!"

Everyone ignored that outburst. Even Shitan was beginning to understand that I was not completely right upstairs. And it's all your fault, Albedo. _Oh, shut up._

"Flying there in your craft would be dangerous," Shitan said. "We must take a plane. You'll need to falsify identification, but with your technology, that should be easy for you."

"Sounds awesome," I said. "A real plane!"

"Those are those things that glide in the sky without any support, aren't they?" Allen asked with a shudder.

"Don't be a scaredy cat!" I laughed. "Those things are plenty safe!"

"It's the safest way to travel," Shitan assured them.

"All right," I said. "Shion, chaos, and I should go with Shitan. Allen, I guess you can stay here."

Allen sighed in frustration. "I'm not scared of the plane, geez! I was just asking!"

"I need you to stay with Suou," Shion told him sweetly. "He'll be lonely and scared without his dad here to protect him."

He was totally charmed by that. Allen agreed on the spot. "You're such a sucker," I chuckled.

And so it was agreed that we would travel by car to an airport, and then by plane to Europe, and then across the ocean to Toronto, Canada. I was so excited about the trip that I had trouble sleeping.

At the airport, I was mystified by the amount of paperwork we required and the security scanning. Luckily, Shitan knew everything that we would need. I had to stash my guns in the luggage and wasn't allowed to see them the entire time. I felt completely naked!

_They told you not to shoot anybody anyway. But you did find some great snacks at the gift store!_

Oh, right! Twenty-first century food is the greatest. I should have brought some back. But oh... okay, so getting on with the story! We got through the airport with some embarrassment, but no major problems. Once on the plane, Shion and I both had to have window seats on the row that we reserved. It was only four seats across, so due to these circumstances, Shitan ended up sitting next to Shion. She had grown a little more comfortable with him, but I still wondered how she was feeling.

The plane took off, and I tell you, it was pretty cool. Not like a space ship at all. The thing glides up into the air on it's own speed. You can see the patchwork of the land, and the water looks like mirrors from up there.

"Wow," Shion exclaimed, as the city below us became smaller and smaller. "This is incredible."

"Are you really impressed?" Shitan asked in amusement. "I fly so often that I don't even think about it. I would think that your methods of travel are much more interesting."

"There's not as much stupid security," I said. "But it's pretty boring."

"Well, flights to and from Africa into the western countries are highly monitored. There are many rampant diseases in Africa."

"I hadn't even thought of that," Shion explained. "I wonder if it would hurt to pass on some of our medical developments to you. I mean, we really aren't in the past, so I don't see why it would be such a big deal."

"Do what you feel is best," Shitan agreed. A moment later, a light came on above us. "Well, that means that we are momentarily free to move about. I wasn't able to use the restroom earlier today, if you would excuse me."

He got up and left for the back of the plane, where there was a small lavatory. I was able to see Shion clearly once the tall man had gone. Her face showed that she was having some internal conflict.

"chaos," she asked gently. "Do you know who that man is?"

I listened intently as chaos set down the bottle of water he was sipping and answered. "This man... is Jin," he said slowly, "and at the same time, he's not Jin at all."

"What do you mean?" she asked him, emotion bubbling up in her voice. "He can't be Jin..."

"I'm afraid that Jin lost his life in the battle after Zarathustra was defeated," he said with a tone of heavy guilt. "I'm so sorry, Shion."

Shion balled her fists. "I knew that..." she said, pressing her eyes shut tightly. "I knew that he was... that he was gone, and I kept telling myself that maybe he survived, but he's... and I can still feel him as if he is here, I just..."

I looked sympathetically to Shion. It was hard seeing her so torn up again. I felt a pit in my heart to. I had been honestly looking forward to seeing Jin again, but he wasn't here. Well... not as we knew him. "So who's that guy, then?" I asked. "An ancestor of yours? Er... well I guess that's not really possible either... but then, the two samples Shitan told us about did have the same DNA so... God, this is confusing!"

chaos laughed softly at my frustration, while remaining sympathetic to Shion. "Jin's soul came with us when we initiated the transfer to Lost Jerusalem," chaos answered. "I can only assume... that Shitan is a representation of his spirit. He is more than a relative, that is for certain."

"I'm glad for that, at least," Shion said, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "At least... I did get to see him again. I know that he's happy. Even if he doesn't... if he doesn't remember me."

chaos rose and placed his palm comfortingly against Shion's shoulder. "He does remember," he said. "Those memories still exist within him, dormant, just as your memories of Mary are. Those memories of you will always be carried along within his consciousness. They will never cease to be."

"Thanks, chaos," Shion said with a smile.

We heard Shitan returning and fell silent. He seemed to notice this as he sat down. Shion was staring through her window still, though we could see nothing but clouds now. "Something the matter?" he asked.

"No!" Shion responded quickly, and then laughed. "I mean, um... well Shitan, do you think that Suou is a good boy?"

"He seems like a very well-behaved, but adventurous boy," Shitan replied, after recovering from the suddenness of the question.. "He's very bright for his age, as well. I'm sure you're very proud to be his mother."

"I am," Shion answered. "He's learning to read already."

"That's wonderful," Shitan answered. "Reading books raises a child's intelligence."

"_Yep_," I said pridefully. "He's takin' after his old uncle Jr."

Shion groaned. "God forbid."

A flight attendant came by a bit later, and served us a meal for lunch. It was a barbecue pork chop sandwich with some carrots and potato chips.

"Here, have mine," Shitan offered to Shion. "The sauce is too sweet for me."

Shion laughed. "I bet you only like spicy curry, too."

"How did you know?"

Shion shrugged. "Well... there's no way I'll eat that much."

"Hey, give it here," I said loudly. "I'll eat it!"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you ate chaos by accident while you were at it," Shion teased, as I took Shitan's sandwich.

"Oh, come on, I'm still growing!"

The rest of the trip was pleasant. We talked a lot, and Shitan told us all about his country. Shion laughed, but her laughter held a guilt in it that only chaos and I could detect. These were all the things that she used to berate Jin for studying, and now he was living them.

At the stop in Europe, we did very little but change planes. I did run by a window and press my face up against it for quite a while to get a look at the place, but all that I could see were the landing strips. I got separated in the process and they had to page me, which was confusing since I didn't know half the languages being spoken in that place. _ Luckily, I speak Spanish, French, and Italian!_

After those mini-adventures, we finally arrived in North America. The surroundings were extremely different. The weather was cool, and I was glad that I had taken Shitan's advice to dress in my usual coat and long pants. The buildings were blocky and drab compared to the colorful sky-scraping structures that we are used to in our world. Roads wound through every bit of the landscape, cement roads upon which thousands of diesel engine cars drove. There were people everywhere.

Shitan directed us to a cab, and we retired to a hotel. We decided to work off the jet lag a bit first before moving on with our mission. Night was already falling when we got there, so there wasn't much chance of us getting inside.

Shion got her own bed, and chaos and I had no qualms about sharing the second one. Shitan found a folding couch on the opposite wall that was comfortable enough. But before we went to sleep, I had to walk around the city a bit. Shitan agreed to give me some Canadian cash, I just had to trade him something he wanted. It turned out that the alloy in my necklace was endlessly fascinating to him. Since it didn't have any sentimental value to me, I gave it to him. But he isn't getting my earring, no sir-ee.

_Little Junior is just too important, I guess..._

Shion insisted that I wait until morning when we could go out together, but I really wanted to check things out on my own. She was too tired to put up much of a fight, and chaos understood, so I left the hotel solo.

It was strange, walking around in a Lost Jerusalem city. My ID claimed that I was twenty-three, so I could go to a bar if I wanted to. Socialization wasn't really what I was seeking, though. Instead, I found a park with a nice courtyard to chill out in, and just watch the people.

Many citizens of Lost Jerusalem there were walking their pets and going on dates. The number of couples I saw made me a little jealous, I have to admit. I sat down on a bench and began to pet a dog that walked up and started to sniff on me. "Hey boy," I said, and gave him a rub. He was a black labrador retriever.

A young woman ran up and caught the leash trailing from the dog's neck. I'd say she was about seventeen or eighteen. She was brunette and wore a heavier coat than the weather called for, or so I thought. "Guy!" she scolded the dog. "I'm so sorry, he's so--" then she actually looked at me and smiled, suddenly changing her mood. "Oh, hello!" she said. "Was he bothering you?"

"No, I like dogs," I replied in a friendly way. "Ha... but if he rips our of your arms like that, you should really get a smaller pet."

"Guy used to be small, but he grew up, and I've had trouble keeping him," she explained, and then looked at me more intensely. "Hey... have we met before? You look really familiar."

_This chick is hitting on you. _Albedo said, and I couldn't tell if he was jealous, if he was warning me, if he was excited, or if he simply knew that I wouldn't have noticed, otherwise. _Oh please, I doubt a cross-time-line relationship would work out._

"I don't think so," I answered the girl, ignoring Albedo. There was something familiar about her, though, that I just couldn't put my finger on. "I'm just visiting Toronto."

"You came to Toronto to sit around on a park bench?" she laughed.

I smirked. "Why not?"

"Mind if I share it with you?" she answered.

I knew I should have told her that I needed to be going, but there was something about her that I _knew_, and I had to give myself a chance to remember what it was. "Sure," I said, and she sat down to my right side. Her hair was long enough that she had to brush it to one side to avoid sitting on it.

"Sorry to intrude, but I'm waiting for someone," she explained.

"It's no problem."

We sat silently for a moment, and I began to pet her dog again. Though it had a stubborn mind as to where it wanted to go, it seemed above the act of fetching sticks. "Aw, come on," I laughed, and pushed him playfully.

"Do you have a dog?" she asked me.

"Yeah, a little papillon," I said.

"Aw, those are so cute!" she laughed.

"Yeah, I haven't seen him in a while though. I gave him to a friend when I went on this trip. Now I really wish I had a dog around."

"Are you looking for one?" she asked me. "Guy is the sweetest dog, but he's too big for me. I can't afford all of his food, he doesn't have enough space to run around... I love him, but I want to find a better home for him. My family is falling on some rough times, and I'm going to college next year to top it off. Poor Guy... I just don't want to let him go. Not unless it's to a really good home."

"Huh... that's a predicament. You know, I've really been missing my dog..."

_What are you thinking? Rubedo? No! No dogs, Rubedo!_

"I might could take him off your hands," I said, rubbing my chin.

"Really?" she responded happily. "Somehow, I can tell that you're a good person who likes dogs."

"I dunno, I tease them sometimes..."

"Oh, come on, I bet you're a great guy," she said with a bashful giggle. "I would like that. But only if you promise to take care of him for me... would you promise me that?"

"I promise," I said, with more enthusiasm than the situation should have called for. "I'll take good care of Guy!"

_Stop it right now, Rubedo, this is insane!_

"I'm so happy," she laughed. "It would be kind of weird to just hand him over, though... would you like to go to dinner? My sister and her date are coming to pick me up. I'll tell them you're my friend! Then I won't have to be a third wheel, either."

"Ha... so if I take you to dinner, you'll give me the dog, huh?" I laughed. "You drive a hard bargain."

"Yup," she laughed. "Oh, and my name is Cherri, by the way."

"I'm Rubedo," I answered. I don't know why I gave her that name, but for once it just seemed natural. Very strange. Normally, it makes me uneasy.

So I had dinner with a nice young lady who I never saw again, and her sister, and some guy her sister was dating. It wasn't any big deal, really. Just a fun distraction from the usual. I figured I wouldn't see any oher people for another seven years, if we did manage to get turned around, so it was nice.

_So... you're not going to tell her about how the girl kissed your cheek at the end of the night, and how flustered you got? Fine, I'll let you get away with that since it was completely **her** fault. What a shameless flirt she was! I'm just glad we'll never see her again! _Oh come on, you had a good time, too. She was nice. _Hmff. Whatever._

When I came back to the hotel with a dog, Shion threw the ice bucket at me. Full of ice. "I can't believe you picked up a DOG!" she shouted. "Can't you take this seriously? We can't just adopt a dog from the future!"

"Why not? Suou will love him!" I argued. "He needs a pet, right? I'll take care of him! You won't have to lift a finger! What's the big deal?" chaos and Shitan both found this endlessly amusing.

"Guy," chaos said to himself as the argument continued. "And Alby... I wonder if they'll be friends."

"I smell perfume," Shion said suspiciously.

"Yeah, I went out! Is that okay, MOM?"

"I can't believe you're flirting with girls while we're trying to figure out how to save the universe!"

After the scolding subsided, we all got some rest. I don't blame Shion, really. I _was_ being pretty irresponsible. I'm always grinning when she's angry, because she really does act like my mother sometimes. It's actually kind of nice. I've never had a mother, and all. Of course, she's younger than me, but neither of us acts like it. I'm sure she wouldn't have approved of my date, but... I really wanted to keep the dog, you know? He's great! He slept on my feet all night to keep me warm. He doesn't bark or jump on people. He's not aggressive or anything, though he does seem to like sniffing female dogs' butts...

_RUBEDO! Can we just get to the next part of the story PLEASE?_

Yeah, yeah. The next morning, we left for the Toronto Zohar facility. Guy even came along, and waited outside patiently, with his leash around a bicycle stand. He's really loyal too, as I found out!

_JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH would you PLEASE stop talking about that UGLY black dog?_

What? Jezuskristanazu-who?

_Shut up._

Anyway, there was a huge building there. It was not much to look at on the outside, flat panels all around, but it was several stories tall, and I could tell that it also went deep into the ground.

"Just let me handle the talking," Shitan said. "I know the people here."

We walked into the building, and there was a large reception area. Beyond the desk, there was a security checkpoint permitting only employees to enter.

Shitan walked up to the desk, and smiled broadly at the girl who ran the counter there. "Ah, Ellen, my dear! So good to see you again!"

We followed Shitan, and met this Ellen person face to face. She was another young lady in about the same age range as the one I had run into the night before. _You must have just been lucky, Rubedo. _She had this long, radiantly golden hair, and the most unusual violet-colored eyes.

_Excuse me? Unusual? _Well, come on, Albedo, I mean excluding designer children, who has purple eyes? Anyway, she was wearing a casual white dress with a blue cardigan over it. There was a silver cross hanging from her neck. I wondered if she was religious, or if she simply liked the shape of it.

She smiled at us from behind the counter in a friendly manner. "Oh, are you already back from Africa?" she asked Shitan. "I'm so glad! The whole place has been just a buzz lately. To tell you the truth, I'm a little worried about my father."

"Ah, and how is he?"

"Well," Ellen sighed. "Well... I haven't seen much of Dad ever since he made a breakthrough with Lemegeton... and since Masuda came back from Africa with success, he's been working on a way to apply it to the Zohar." She looked down at her hands and then back up at Shitan with a worrisome expression. "Oh Professor... I'm so worried about them both. I... I have a bad feeling..." she whispered the last part.

"I'll be abel to talk to you about it later, I promise," Shitan said. "This is Jr., chaos, and Shion. They are part of my dig team, and actually helped to uncover the Zohar. They're extremely interested to see what kind of facilities we are keeping the Zohar in."

"Oh yes," Ellen replied happily, and smiled at each of us in turn. "You seem like an interesting bunch."

That is the point at which I glanced over to Shion, and found her staring wide-eyed and dumbfounded at this girl. "Shion," I whispered.

"Oh!" she said with a jolt. "Excuse me, I was being rude... I really like your contact lenses..." She looked to chaos as if expecting him to say something, but chaos remained silent. I noticed that he wasn't smiling as usual, himself.

"Oh, this is my natural color," Ellen replied. "But thank you. Your eyes are very pretty, too. They remind me of professor Shitan's, actually." Then she looked carefully between the two of them, and I knew that this was going to be bad. "Are the two of you related? I can detect a sort of similar aura about you."

"No," Shion sighed. Ellen continued to look at her just as strangely, so at least I felt assured that she wasn't offended.

"Shion," Ellen said, "It sounds an awful lot like Shitan, even. What a coincidence..." And then they just stared at each other for a moment. Shitan looked at me. I shrugged, equally as lost. chaos, as always, appeared to know something that we didn't.

"Well," Ellen said, breaking the awkward silence. "Oh, is that your dog outside?"

I turned and looked through the entrance's windows where you could clearly see Guy sniffing around. "Yeah," I said. "Is there a problem?"

"I'm afraid he'll be impounded if you leave him like that. But, I'm going on break. If you won't be long, I'll be happy to walk him for you until you are finished here."

"Oh, that would be great!" I said gratefully. "He's a little strong so you'll have to keep a firm grip on his leash, but he likes girls. Thanks a lot."

"No problem," she answered. "I'll meet you here after your tour is over. Now I just need to see your IDs. Don't worry, it's just so that we can keep a record of who has entered the building."

We handed her our falsified cards. She scanned them without any problem, and then opened the door for us. I noticed that there were no metal detectors here. It was simply to keep tabs on everyone who entered, to keep their secrets from being leaked out. Even the guard at the door looked like simple mall security.

"Oh, that's right!" she said, remembering something as we passed through. "Doctor Shitan! My father has a new special security perimeter around the Zohar containment area. You may have to get his personal permission to enter, but I'm sure there's no problem."

"Thanks for the warning, Elly," Shitan said with a smile. "I'll see you later."

"Bye!" she replied, and walked outside to take care of Guy.

"Elly?" I asked Shitan as we continued inside. "Who's she?"

"Ellen Verum," he replied. "Dr. Masuda and I are both good friends with her father. She attended one of my classes as an exchange student at my university in Japan. Since I speak English fluently, she and I became very close. She works part time at the front desk, but she's involved with the research here as well."

I glanced over at Shion again and found her deep in thought. "What's up?" I asked her.

"Something occurred to me," she said. "I know that name. Historically, I mean. Grimoire Verum... was the leader of Vector's first Zohar research project."

"Vector?" Shitan interjected. "I've never heard of that before."

"We thought maybe it didn't exist in your timeline," I answered Shitan. "And maybe it still doesn't. There's no Vector associated with this facility. But still, Shion... why does that bother you, exactly?"

"Because Verum..." Shion began, slowly. I could tell once again that this was making her uncomfortable. "Grimoire Verum was also responsible for the Gnosis Terrorism incident which led me to investigate Vector's S-line division with Scientia."

"It couldn't be the same guy though," I pointed out. The look that she gave me indicated that I was wrong.

"It is him. When he died, he continued to interact with the real numbers realm through the UMN for ten thousand years."

"I'm afraid you've lost me again," Shitan said.

"He was obsessed with finding his daughter," Shion continued, gravely. "Some horrible fate had befallen her, and he continued to search for her consciousness within the UMN. The Gnosis terrorism was a way of calling out to her. I don't know what happened exactly, but..."

Shitan's mood darkened dramatically at that. "Ellen is like family to me," he said. "If this Zohar's awakening that you speak of will lead her to harm, then I will do everything in my power to help you stop it."

"Thank you," chaos said. He finally spoke, after remaining quiet for all of this time. "Tell me... is there anything special about Ellen?"

Shitan adjusted his glasses in a serious manner. "Yes, now that you mention it. She says that she sees aura around people, as with Shion and I just now. She can tell things like when people are related, when they have a deep-seeded anger, or when they are in love simply by examining this special aura, which no one else can see."

"She must be seeing the imaginary numbers realm in bits and pieces," Shion replied. "From time to time, I'm able to see it too. But I've never been able to read people like that. When I was young, the doctors all thought it was just something wrong with my eyes."

"I see," Shitan said. "Ellen also has prophetic dreams," he went on to say. "It was with her help that Masuda was able to narrow down the location of the Zohar. I am a scientific man, but I cannot deny the fact that she has a unique ability."

"Trust me, I believe you," I said. "None of us are normal, either."

Shitan laughed a bit at that. "Oh, trust me... I've figured out that much."

As we continued on through the facilities, I noticed that there was one major difference. There was no wasted space here, in this place. All of the equipment related to this projects was compact as it could be, and fit into every corner. I wondered just how they would be able to fit the Zohar into this place.

We stepped into an elevator and Shitan hit a button corresponding to one of the highest floors. "It had to be dropped into the building by plane," he explained. "We underestimated how large it would be."

"I guess without nanomachine technology, it's hard to build huge placed, huh?" I asked him.

"It's more of a space issue," he replied. "This facility exists within the city. I was strongly against that decision mind you, but Verum was adamant in his decision to build it within a city."

"Why would that be?" chaos wondered.

"A convenient location to set up a world empire," Shitan replied with spite in his voice. "Although, he covered that intention with the fact that it could be used to power the entire city as a demonstration of its capabilities."

"Talk about overkill," I snorted.

The elevators opened on a floor more than twenty stories up. Here there was another lobby, but this one was much less inviting. Instead of a friendly receptionist, there were several armed guards.

"What is this about?" Shitan asked as he walked up to one. The guard had both a pistol at his side and a rifle on hisback, and he was covered in black riot armor. "Ellen told me there would be extra security, but this is ridiculous!"

"I'm afraid I can't let you through without proper identification," he replied. Shitan grudgingly showed him his ID. The soldier nodded. "Thanks, Doctor Shitan. You have level B access, that means you can admit up to two people along with you."

"I believe I can admit whoever I please, as a key figure of this project," Shitan answered, but the guard was firm.

"Doctor Verum is the only person with level A access, and he has set up specific rules for you, which are noted here."

Shitan was furious. "Verum noted this specifically?" he grumbled. "I had a feeling this would happen... uhg..." Then he turned an looked at us apologetically. "Apparently my _colleague_ is going out of his way to make sure that I have as little power as possible."

"It's not worth starting a fight about," chaos replied quietly. "We need to enter peacefully so that we can come up with a plan. One of us will simply stay behind."

"Hey, you!" another guard said loudly, and stomped up to me. He motioned to my waist with the butt of his gun. "Lift up your coat, now!"

"What, these are just for uh... personal protection!" I said, complying.

"Jr., I told you to leave those at home," Shion groaned in dismay.

"Ah, forgive him!" Shitan said apologetically, and came over to me. He pulled me back to the door. "He's American you see, he doesn't understand--" then in a whispered tone he spoke just to me, "generally people don't carry _two concealed pistols_ for protection," he said under his breath, slightly annoyed.

"I think we know who's leaving," Shion said.

"Ah, no!" I protested. "I wanted to go!"

The guard continued to hassle me. "Get out of here with those, and be lucky we don't call the police!"

"Okay, fine," I grumbled, and headed back to the elevator. "I guess those two have more of a chance of figuring things out than we do, anyway."

_Yeah, if there's no U-DO then a couple of URTVs aren't going to be worth much anyway. You just wanted to see the thing again._

"Damn right I did!" I said as I got onto the elevator again, perturbed. I cooled off on the way down again. "At least this'll let me catch up with my dog. Ah, Ellen took him... I wonder when she'll be back."

_I think perhaps the woman karma gods are finally on your side again._

"After seven years of torture, I would hope so!"

And so, though I was disappointed, I exited the building. Maybe I could do some good for the cause by talking to Ellen for a bit. She seemed somehow related to the heart of the matter.

I walked down the street hoping she hadn't gone far. I was in luck. Just a block away from the building there was a coffee shop, where the young lady had bought a cappuccino and a toffee cake and was reading a book at one of the small tables outside. Guy seemed very content to curl up at the girl's legs.

She looked up from her book as I approached. "Oh... Jr., right? Did you finish your tour already?"

"They wouldn't let me in," I said with a shrug. "I'll just wait for the others, it's no big deal."

"Would you sit down with me, then?" she asked. "Your dog is very sweet, by the way."

"Thanks," I answered, and sat down across from her. "What are you reading?"

"Psychology and Alchemy," she replied.

I laughed. "Oh, that's some heavy material. I prefer fiction, myself."

"Generally, I do as well." She laid the book down and smiled at me. "I hope you don't think I'm strange for saying this, but you have the most interesting aura."

I shrugged. "Trust me, there's not much you can do to weird me out."

"It's a color," she went on, examining something about me that I couldn't see. "Bright red! That's so odd, but it reminds me of a dream I had once."

"Oh really?" I asked. I figured it might alarm her if I asked to know everything about it directly, but I could at least prod a little. "I don't think that's odd." Then I laughed. "So, were you dreaming about me, huh?"

"Somehow I knew you were a joker," Ellen replied with a laugh. "But Professor Shitan likes you, so you must have _some_ redeeming qualities."

"Well, I had to ask."

She smiled again. "It's true. I have a dream from time to time where there is a group of people with brilliant aura surrounding them. The lights are so bright and pure that together they appear like an aurora. Beautiful rainbow colors, like the northern lights."

"I've seen something like that before," I replied. What she described was exactly the kind of light that appears in the sky just prior to the arrival of the Gnosis. I knew the others would object, but I had to take a chance. "What would you say if I told you that I'm not who I appear to be?"

She sat up rigidly in response to that and gazed back at me wide-eyed. "Y-you aren't joking with me, are you?" she stammered with an awkward laugh. "Did someone tell you that it might be fun to mess with me?"

"No," I said, and shook my head. hat was definitely not the reaction I'd been hoping for. "I'm being sincere." I looked down at my hands planted firmly in my lap and wondered how I could explain this without freaking her out or running her off. I couldn't tell her I was from the future, she would think I was lying. Not everyone was quite as eccentric and optimistic about "aliens" as Shitan had been. "Have you ever seen these names: Asher, Dinah, Zebulun, Reuben, Simeon--"

"They're the tribes of Isreal," she said, and her voice seemed tense. "But I didn't know that... before I saw them in my dreams."

"Isreal," I repeated. "Um... Is that a place I could go to, maybe?"

She looked back at me dumbfounded. "You don't know where Isreal is?" she asked me. "Why would you say that, even if you were joking?"

"I'm not joking!" I insisted. I began racking my brain for what I could say, what I could show her.

"Are you from another world, or something?" she asked me suddenly, in a hushed tone.

_You're also lucky that we keep running into crazy people_, Albedo added, but I paid no attention to him.

"I'm sorry, there's not a lot I can say," I answered.

She just stared back at me for a lingering moment, and I could see that there was a strong emotion welling up in her. This power of hers was unheard of in hr time. Of course she had been through ridicule and had difficulty finding anyone that would believe her.

"Your hand," she asked me.

"Huh?" I looked down.

"Why does it have a number on it?"

I cleared my throat nervously. "Well um... that's a long story..."

There was a long silence here where I looked for something more that I could say, and she was most likely debating whether to believe me or not. "I can tell that your journey has been a hard one. Wherever you came from, you've come a long way. You have lost many things. There are deep wounds in your spirit, but it continued to shine very brightly. Because of this, you lead others. You are connected through strong bonds to several people who lie across great distances. You are looking for someone... your friend. A fallen comrade."

Then it was my turn to stare back at her blankly and amazed. "How... did you know all of that?"

"I just do," she said. "I have something I can show you. I'll show you here I saw those names." She pulled her purse onto the table and began to dig through it. I watched curiously as she shuffled the contents, and pulled out a small pamphlet. "This place," she said, and pointed to a picture. "It was the center of a hoax many years ago, and now it's simply a tourist outpost. But I saw it in my dream. That person with the red aura-- you were here, along with all of the others. They were also looking for a friend, a woman."

"Yeah, a woman," I said, and took a look at the picture. It said that the Location was Rennes le Chateau, in France.

Ellen began to laugh bitterly. "Ha... what am I saying. This is crazy. I must be crazy."

"You're not crazy," I said, and leaned towards her. "Maybe the right time will come when I can explain everything, but I am not to sure about it myself at the moment. I'm just trying to find a friend of mine."

She looked up at me again, staring straight into my eyes. Suddenly I seemed to remember that I may have seen eyes like those before. "I wish you good luck," she said. "And if you really are from another world... could you, maybe..."

I waited a moment for her to finish, but she wouldn't. "Yes?" I prompted her. "What would you like me to do?"

"Take that Zohar with you, back to wherever it came from," she said. "That object was not meant for human hands. My father, he--"

"Don't worry," I said, and stood up with a grin. "We're going to take good care of that, I swear."

"Somehow I feel like you really are telling the truth," she replied. Her body finally relaxed again and she sighed. "Oh well. Whoever you are, good luck. I hope that you find your friend."

"Mind if I take this?" I said, holding up the brochure.

"Go ahead," she replied. "I can find another one."

"Thanks," I said, and went to take Guy off her hands. "And thanks for taking care of my dog. Don't worry about anything."

I left her with that, and began walking back to the facility. By the time I reached the front door again, the others were coming out. They seemed disappointed. Shitan looked angry, which was unusual for the level-headed scientist.

"What's up?" I asked. "Did you find anything out?"

"Well, we saw the Zohar," Shion said. "We at least got a good scope of where it was being held. They wouldn't allow us to look at any of the data, though."

"We didn't determine anything useful," chaos added.

Shitan huffed as he pushed up his glasses. "I can't believe Verum had the nerve to push me out of that project! And that Masuda agreed with him... it's absurd. Verum is so enveloped in his discovery of Lemegeton that he can't see past his own nose, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, Masuda seems to see the Zohar as the key to all of the universe's mysteries, and seems to be losing himself in the idea. He's a good man, but I'm afraid of what Verum may persuade him to do, with that unrealistic attitude."

"And Shitan is the sensible one," Shion said, "so Verum's kicking him out, of course. I guess it's not a total waste of time, though. We did confirm that it is Verum's Lemegeton program that will cause the Zohar to go out of control. If we could somehow interrupt it..."

"Well I got an even _better_ lead," I said with an air of prideful arrogance. "I spoke to Ellen, and she gave me a tip or two."

Shion cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. "I think maybe you need a leash more than your new dog," she replied.

"Haha, you laugh," I said, "but I happen to hold in my hands, the key!"

"What?" Shion spat, and snatched it from me. "This is a travel guide, Jr.!"

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen!" I said. "Get your bags packed, we're going to France!"

"I should have known," chaos said quietly.

"Known what?" I asked him

Shion looked at him too. "Are you really going to listen to Jr.?"

He smiled warmly. "I think I have a hunch, that's all. Let's go there."

"I'm all about hunches," I laughed, and grabbed Shion by the arm, running towards the bus stop. "We're going back to the airport! You'll see, this will be the best idea I ever had."

"That's not what the dinosaur would say!" Shion argued back.

Shitan looked to chaos as the two of them calmly followed us. "Should I ask what _that's_ about?"

chaos shrugged. "Probably not."


	35. I Believe in You

**Chapter 35: I Believe in You**

There was silence on the bridge as the Penelope drifted through space. I reclined listlessly in the captain's seat, eyes darting occasionally to the silver object that I laid on the armrest. Some times I flipped it over to see the back, sometimes I tried to balance it on the end of my finger. Not only my voice, but my mind was quiet. I don't remember thinking about anything in particular. I was most likely trying to avoid the thought of what I was going to force myself to do sooner or later.

"I never really got to know KOS-MOS that well," Miyuki said in a sheepish tone from her seat at the secondary console. "I mean... I was part of her programming team under Shion, but I transferred out before Shion ever actually activated her. She was so hesitant to ever wake KOS-MOS up..."

"KOS-MOS and I interacted solely on a level of necessity," Ziggy added. "However... considering that is the most interaction that either of us were used to, you could say that we got to know each other quite well."

But I didn't speak. I was very close to KOS-MOS, in spirit if not in practice. It isn't as if KOS-MOS spent much time bonding with anyone. _This task does not require additional manpower_, she would say, each time I tried to help her out around the Elsa. But she was artificial like me, created in the image of another person, like me. And there were those rare occasions where she would speak to me, and try her hardest to understand me, or just to make me feel better. I didn't want to talk about it. Perhaps if Shion were there, I could. But Shion was gone... thus, this entire problem.

Finally Miyuki raised her voice. "Well... what now?"

I sighed and rest my arms on the chair, one hand over the key. "chaos said to just leave it here," I said. "Anywhere."

"So let's go down to the planet and chunk it somewhere so we can go home!" Miyuki said energetically.

"The thing is, he--" I began. "I'm to leave KOS-MOS here as well, so that Shion will find her one day."

"Yeah, so I heard," Miyuki sighed. "But I just don't understand, why can't we give KOS-MOS to Shion when we find Shion? She's on her way here anyway, isn't she?"

I had no response for that. I looked down at the floor panelling.

"chaos said," Ziggy answered for me, "that the issue was not a matter of space so much as time. Shion will not arrive here, likely, for longer than our lifetimes will hold out." He knew that by saying that, it would go straight to my heart. But he said it anyway, because Ziggy knew that we both had to be strong enough to do this, and that I didn't want him to protect me from that truth.

"Now I feel stupid for letting them just leave like that," Miyuki went on. She continued, trying to keep us conversing somehow. She seemed to think that if the room were silent for too long that we would all eventually crack and break to pieces. She may have been right. That is why I rely on her, after all. "I mean," and she laughed, though we both knew that she did not feel like laughing, "they could have just waited around and we'd have all gotten here together."

Miyuki did have poor judgment when it came to choosing topics, however. Yes, I was beginning to spite your decision. I had always accepted your insistence on leaving right when you did, I even admired you for having the courage to do it. I thought if you could be that brave, then I could too. But maybe it was where I had grown up, but I was beginning to doubt. What if you had just needed that to fulfill your ever present need to justify your continued life, where your brothers and sisters had all died? You couldn't have been happy just waiting, waiting with me. You always have to be going somewhere, doing something, keeping some promise. But then... you did promise me, as well, that you would come back someday.

Miyuki scratched her head nervously. "You know, we've got all the time in the world," she said. "We can go back home and try a few more ways to fix KOS-MOS. Maybe Togashi's department can come up with something. We don't have to just... ditch her."

I watched her quietly for a moment. She sat with her hands balled tightly in her lap. She was looking desperately around at the floor, trying to find something else that may help. There wasn't anything.

"The only thing that Togashi could possibly do," I said gravely, "Is to completely reformat KOS-MOS's core in order to start her. She would work again, but she would have no memories. She wouldn't be the same person inside. We might as well just build another KOS-MOS, if that were the case."

"Yeah..." Miyuki said in a deep breath. "That's what happened with the archetype."

There was another minute or two that passed quietly. Then Ziggy spoke. "There is always the possibility that we misinterpreted chaos's words," he said. "We could try diving again."

"We've tried," I answered, wondering, was it Ziggy now, who did not want to accept the truth? "We haven't been able to connect with KOS-MOS's subconscious at all."

"Not even with a dummy protocol," Miyuki added with a pout. "The only person who could possibly call her back is Shion..." That brought our broken conversation full circle.

"Therefore," I said, and clicked the Zohar plate against the armrest accidentally while fingering it, causing it to ring sharply like a chime. "Therefore... we must deliver KOS-MOS to where Shion is waiting. Or... _when_ might be a better word to describe it."

Miyuki shook her head abruptly. "That doesn't make any sense!" she argued. "No matter how long it takes them to get here, we can always bring KOS-MOS back when they get here, isn't that right? Even if it's in the furture, we could leave somebody instructions or something, couldn't we? That's can't be true that they aren't coming back! We don't have to leave her here! We don't have to leave her in the ground like---like a _dead person_!"

I straightened up rigidly, and Miyuki silenced herself abruptly. She knew that she had finally failed to hide her denial, herself. I think at that point, we were all at different steps along that familiar tragedy pattern. I happened to be in the anger category directly following denial, myself. "Run a visual search from the drones," I commanded bluntly.

"F-for what?" Miyuki stammered. Ziggy also looked at me curiously.

"White flowers," I said. "Please list all locations on the surface of the third planets where white flowers are growing."

"Uh... sure," Miyuki asked. She sounded as if she thought I was losing it, but didn't want to say so. "I'm finding plenty of matches. Would you like me to show you?"

"Yes, put them on screen, please," I answered her. She did so, and I began to flip through the images the drones provided via my seat's terminal. The drones were able to scan wide areas and to understand the command, but this method still left something to be desired. There were measly little specks of white all over. I spent nearly an hour sifting through these unremarkable specimens, until I came across one in particular that struck me as something amazing.

It was a white beach. I could not tell if it was the ocean or a lake, a light mist obscured the horizon. The shore was covered in the most brilliant white flowers. With a touch of the wind, the petals blew up into the sky and floated down again. Though the flowers were white, the golden sun and the gentle mist warped the colors into pinks and blues, against the green grass. I felt like I had seen that image before.

"Mark this," I told Miyuki, and stood up. "That's where we are going."

"...Okay... sure," she agreed hesitantly. "But where are you going?"

"This has to be done properly," I said, as I reached the door of the bridge. "I'll ready the equipment."

Miyuki took the craft to the area I specified, though she had only half an idea as to exactly what I planned to do. The Penelope touched down just outside of the edge of the field of flowers. Her thrusters disturbed them only slightly as she landed.

Down in the lab, I closed the top of my friend's maintenance chamber over her head, and was glad, in a way, that it was opaque. I don't know if I could have gone through with it if I was able to see her face. I activated the anti-gravitational unit below it, and began to push it out of the lab.

Miyuki raced down from the bridge along with Ziggy just as I was opening the hatch from the hangar, ready to take KOS-MOS outside. The cool winds blew inside of the ship, along with the flower petals and the light drizzle of the mist. Two very different worlds were blending at the edges. "What are you doing?" she asked me, upset and catching her breath.

"The reunion chaos promised," I said, while turning my head to look at her, impassive. "I understand now. What they meant."

"MOMO, what are you saying?" Ziggy asked me. There was an undue amount of concern in his voice.

I looked out over the landscape before us. The wind was blowing my hair around my face in soft, easy motions. "It'll be in the next life," I said. "That's what all of this is for. So that the future will be possible, and we will all meet again... in the unconscious domain, or in another life. But not now. You see... if I were to have everything returned to me, then I would never understand the feeling that those lonely souls felt, the ones who lost everything, and thus sought the dispersal of the universe. You can't save the universe without paying a heavy price, and my price... is to never see my friends again." Perhaps this was bargaining.

With that, the others were silenced, and I continued to push KOS-MOS's container down the ramp. "KOS-MOS has accepted that fate, and so will I," I said. My voice began to waver. "I will not fail them now, I can't! No matter what becomes of me, or if they even look back or not to see how we've suffered for them!"

Miyuki watched as I tripped, both due to the softness of the ground and my emotional state of mind, over the last step out of the hangar. "Let me help, too," she said, and we began to push the object together. I was reeling in the realization of what I'd just shouted. But after I had said it, I knew that it wasn't how I really felt, and they did too. I knew that you were looking back as much as I was looking forward, but neither of us could connect the two.

"No," Ziggy said, as he joined us. "Let me do it." I nodded and let go of the box as he took hold of it and continued to push it along with little effort.

We walked until we found an area that was firm rock underneath the soil, where the waters wouldn't seep in and wear away the ground. This is where we set one of our droids to bore a hole wide enough for the maintenance pod.

"We have to make it deep enough so that she won't be tampered with," I said, trying not to think of how morbid it sounded, as we stood watching the droid work away under the grey skies. "The only one who should find her should be Shion. Shion will know. She will be able to feel where she is. KOS-MOS just has to wait here."

"Could we leave them a note?" Miyuki said, trying even in our darkest hour to make light of the situation. "You know, they sent us one, so..."

"I love you, but I know you can't return, so take care of yourself," I said, after thinking about that for a moment. "No... I don't think I want to write that down."

Miyuki frowned again. "You're right..."

It was not long until we stood around a deep hole, lined with rock. Ziggy looked to me. "Are you sure?" he asked. "It may be impossible for us to return."

"This is right," I replied, placing my hand on KOS-MOS's bed. Right now, it seemed too much like a casket. "This is what she wanted."

"Then I will continue," Ziggy answered with a heavy heart. He pushed the container over the empty spot, and it began to lower itself slowly until it reached the bottom of the grave. It was about at that point that Miyuki couldn't handle this anymore, and turned away.

"Let's cover her back up," I said. Once again, I had trouble with the words. It was like somebody else was speaking, and I was shocked on the inside at what they were saying and doing because it had to be done. Ziggy, the robot, and I began to toss the rock and dirt back over her until you could no longer see the sheen of her container.

"I can't believe this," Miyuki whimpered while this was going on. Alby rubbed against her leg, but dared not come near me.

The sky seemed to get darker as KOS-MOS's burial came to a close. The droid's personality system, basic as it was, instructed it to head back into the ship without us, without making a sound, and it was a smart move. There was a length of time there where the three of us just stood, not knowing which way to go. Miyuki, even with her tough heart and her boundless optimism, could not pull us out of this depression. Ziggy, who had repeated tragedy several times before, found this one nonetheless crippling.

I fell to my knees on the grass in front of the fresh grave and sat there, head hung low. I raised the Zohar plate in front of me, and then pushed it into the dirt where it became lodged in the viscous mud and would serve as a marker for centuries to come, I hoped. Some human from a primitive civilization may find it and pass it on for centuries as a precious trinket, or perhaps archeologists would dig it up years later. It's fate no longer mattered to me. Then my hands fell to the ground, and I lacked the motivation to move.

"I'm really at the end of my rope here, I think..." I said. My fingers were tightening in the dirt. I couldn't stand to look at the bracelet I wore around my wrist, the single golden shell. "Sayonara, baby," it said. Goodbye. I'm not coming back this time. Goodbye.

"I can't believe I'll never see her again," I said. "Any of them. I thought I was doing what I thought would help everyone, but it was really what would help me to see everyone, because that's what I wanted. But now--We did our part, and now-- I guess it's time for us to just turn around and go home... and live out the rest of our lives."

Miyuki began to sniffle. "Don't cry, MOMO," she whimpered. "Y-you're gonna make me cry too, and I don't wanna cry... not in front of KOS-MOS, anyway."

"What else can we do?" I choked. Tears fell from my face and were absorbed by the rich soil at the foot of KOS-MOS's resting place. "I've given everything I have, there's nothing else to be done."

The splash of my teardrop against the earth was soon joined by several more as the clouds opened up and soaked the earth. They wept for KOS-MOS as I was doing. This rendered Miyuki's attempts to dry her eyes futile. Ziggy stood stoically, eyes closed in reverence. He knew that even he would be unable to comfort me at that moment.

"I am having a hard time accepting this after all," I said, with a teary and bitter laugh at myself. "I'm not strong like KOS-MOS is. But I will keep going, I suppose."

I stood up, and rubbed my eyes. Ziggy touched his hand to my shoulder, but I refused to bury myself in his arms and cry. No, I was going to be strong. I closed my eyes for a moment and then opened them again.

"We've kept up our end," I said. "Now... we must have faith--just have some faith that everything will work out, and that--"

Miyuki interrupted my sentence by putting her arms around me, pushing us both into Ziggy. "You don't have to try so hard," she said, nearly breaking into tears again. Ziggy wrapped his arms around my shoulders and rest his chin over my head. "We know that speech already."


	36. The Lights of Love

**Chapter 36: The Lights of Love**

On the plane to France, our seats had been separated in twos in different areas due to the crowd. We were lucky to get that even, on such short notice.

I chose specifically to sit next to Shion this time, and no one found this odd enough to point out, though it was somewhat unusual. I knew that likely, Shion wanted to sit next to Shitan again, but wouldn't come out and admit it. I'd have arranged that for her without making her confess her growing fondness for her reincarnate sibling, but I had things to discuss with her that I wouldn't want him to overhear.

"I've been thinking," I said, as we reclined back in our seats after the take-off.

"Oh, what's the occasion?" Shion retorted.

"Ha ha, funny, yeah," I groaned. "I mean... about the others."

"Other?" She looked at me blankly. The fact that she didn't know immediately who I meant proved that I was much more worried about this than she was.

"Yeah," I answered, "MOMO, Ziggy, Dr. Mizrahi... the others."

"Oh," Shion said, her face lighting up with sudden recollection. "I'm so proud of MOMO," she went on in a dreamy tone. "I knew that she'd be able to do it."

"Oh yeah, there's no doubt about that," I agreed, "but haven't you thought about it? Right now, from where we are, all of them have been dead for thousands of years."

Shion looked at me and furrowed her eyebrows. "Now, there's no reason to go looking at it like _that_," she said. "Because if we get back then that means we're dead too, right?"

"If..." I stared ahead of myself silently for a moment. That outlook didn't comfort me any. "What if we didn't go back?" I said.

"Huh," Shion put a finger to her lip and began to wonder. "Well, really... it wouldn't be such a tragedy for me. I have Allen and Suou... and Jin is here, after all... sort of. If we manage to find KOS-MOS in this timeline, then I think I could be happy here."

I whipped my head back to her, shocked. "You would actually _like_ to stay here, wouldn't you?" I said accusingly.

"No!" she responded, annoyed with my edginess. I suppose that was due, since I was being pretty irrational, looking back on it. "All I'm saying is that in the case we are stuck here, it wouldn't bother me too much. I'm still all for going back if it's possible."

"I promised her we'd come back," I said. "Shion, I _promised_ her."

"You focus on that promise stuff too much," Shion laughed. "Just do your best. I learned this a long time ago, if you keep trying to justify your feelings and your actions through vows and promises, then your resolve isn't going to be strong enough to carry you through. It has to come from the heart."

"That's really corny," I laughed. "But thanks. That makes sense, I guess. I will protect MOMO, and I will return home, too. But it won't be because I promised them that I would. It's because that's what I honestly want to do. That is what both Sakura and MOMO would want. So either way... I have to get back. I have to keep that promise."

Shion shrugged, then laughed at me. "We'll get home, all right," she said, and then slapped me on the knee reassuringly. "Hey, why isn't Albedo saying anything?"

"You're right, he's not," I answered, just realizing that myself. Shion was really the only one among us who had a knack for telling when I was having an internal dialogue. "Albedo, don't you have anything to say?"

_I'm just reeling in the shock, that's all. _

"I can't wait," I said, filled with new optimism. "To see them again, it'll be so great! I wonder if the old man ever got some legs, if him and Dr. Mizrahi are getting along... or what Helmer's up to. As far as I can remember, that guy's never had a girlfriend."

"I wonder what MOMO looks like," Shion said.

_Aha, just the subject you were trying to avoid. I like this woman._

"I wonder if they'll be surprised to see that I'm tall now?" I said, gracefully evading that one. "And oh! Suou! They will freak out when they see him, for sure!"

"Freak out?" Shion sputtered, taking offense. "Why would Suou make anybody _freak out_?"

"I just meant it's so unlikely," I said, trying to laugh it off. "I mean who could have possibly imagined you and Allen actually shacking up and having a--" a look of sheer impending doom from her ended this sentence. "--uh-um--okay."

_And I get to sit with this for twelve more hours, this'll be fun._

It was a long trip, but by the time we arrived, we had rested well enough to continue. Shitan rented a car this time so that we could travel the countryside. chaos and I sat in the back with Guy between us and napped even more (or at least, I did). The directions given to us upon inquiring about the pamphlet Ellen had given me led us deep into the countryside.

It was a place of mountains, forests, and rolling green hills. Farm land was abundant. "There's an old castle here, huh?" I asked Shitan as he drove. "That's cool."

"Yes, although it has some historical significance, this place is rather mild and quiet. A legend surrounding the area draws in a fair number of tourists, but it's died down since being proven a hoax."

"What kinda legend was it?" I asked. This sort of thing peaked my interest.

"A Christian one, about a woman being buried here who shared a close relationship to their lord. I've never paid close attention to such things, myself."

chaos laughed softly at that. "Hey, what's so funny?" I asked him.

"It's just a little ironic to me, that's all," he said. "That Mary does not exist here, and yes this legend persists..."

"Hmm," she hummed, wondering. "But chaos, if you exist, then wouldn't Mary have to as well?"

"Yes, I am a bit worried about that," chaos said distantly, as he continued to watch the hills pass by us through the window. "We should try to return to Toronto as soon as possible." I raised an eyebrow at that, but he only turned to me and smiled. "I mean, for Ellen's sake, right?"

"Sure," I sighed. "Right."

Eventually we reached the outskirts of the village, and Shitan stopped the car. "How should we proceed?" he asked.

"I'll see what I can put together by scanning the area first," Shion replied. "We shouldn't interact with any other people unless we absolutely have to. Better to sneak in and investigate than to come off as tourists and be watched the entire time."

"I'll second that," I said, and took a seat on the hood of the car. I cracked open a canned soda I'd procured from the airport the other day, along with a bag of chips.

"You should really eat something healthier," Shitan laughed, as Shion began to work with her connection gear. "Our foods haven't been nutritiously fortified, like yours from the future. Er... _past_, rather. And we've likely got a distance to go on foot today."

"I'll be fine," I said. "I had a good breakfast. Anyway... hey, chaos. Do you think this is really the same area that we found floating out in space?"

"If so," chaos replied, "then it was obviously replaced in the process of the spacial transfer which materialized Lost Jerusalem. Otherwise, we would be looking at a huge crater, right?"

"I don't even _know_ anymore," I groaned, scratching my head.

"It could even be that it was never actually detached, but that the pocket of space we saw actually existed in this spacial location the entire time.

"Huh," Shion said aloud, drawing our attention before my headache grew any more intense. "That's weird."

"What?" I asked.

"At this range, I can detect a small cluster of geocrystals several miles in that direction," she said, and pointed into a wooded area across a field by the road. "They were too small to detect from the Elsa back in Africa, but they are clearly there."

"We should investigate." I slid off the hood of the car and shielded my eyes from the sun in order to scan the horizon. "Looks like there's no roads going out that way," I said.

"Like I told you," Shitan laughed, "we will have to walk."

"Bummer about your car then," I said.

He shrugged. "It's a rental, I have insurance as well. I uh... had a feeling that remaining in your group's presence for any length of time may attract damage, anyway."

"You're a shrewd man," I laughed. "Well... let's gather up anything important in case we can't come back. Food, particularly..." my only baggage was a backpack full of supplies and a change of clothes, anyway. After grabbing it, I slapped my leg for Guy to follow. "Come on, Guy! We're gonna go exploring!"

After the long plane and car trips, walking for the rest of the day wasn't so bad. The weather was pleasant there, flowers were in bloom. We crossed a field without anyone noticing us, and then reached the forested area beyond, where the trees hid us from sight. There were streams from the mountains, making vegetation and wildlife abundant.

"Too bad Suou couldn't have come along," I said. "I bet he'd love to see a rabbit or a deer."

"Ah," Shion said with a shrug, "He would have been tired and cranky by noontime if he had to walk this far."

chaos laughed softly. "He is extremely impressed by things like this though, isn't he?"

"If we weren't so pressed for time," Shitan interjected, "I'd have shown you all to some animal exhibits and other things to get a real taste for this world."

"Well," Shion sighed, a touch of disappointment in her voice. "The sooner we get home, the sooner he can start living a real life."

"Ah, he doesn't have it so bad," I said. "You worry too much."

"Well," chaos replied, finding humor in that, "compared to your childhood, I guess so."

"And I turned out okay! Didn't I?"

Shion thought about that for a moment before answering. "No comment."

_Ha ha._

It was nearly sunset when, by following the reading that Shion detected, we came in sight of a lake. The forest thinned into a grove of trees that spotted a field of flowers. These flowers, they grew wild and beautiful. Their petals were white, painted golden by the setting sun.

"Well," I said, stepping out into the grove first, followed by Guy who bounded happily through the plants, "This would be a lovely place for a picnic and all, but I don't see any geocrystal formations."

"Like I said, they'll be very small," Shion answered. "It could be that they are natural here, I'm not even sure if--" then, as she stepped out into the field herself, she stopped abruptly, mid-sentence.

chaos also stopped in his tracks and remained silent as Shitan and I continued on. "What's with you guys?" I asked, looking back at them. chaos seemed a bit more introverted than usual, and Shion's face had acquired that look of sudden realization that I was beginning to recognize.

"I've been here before," Shion said. "I know I have, I have been here before!"

"Well maybe," I shrugged. "We did come to Rennes le Chateau before, er... sorta, anyway."

"No, no, I mean..." she went on, then she closed her eyes shut and rubbed her forehead. "There was a man standing over there. I think it was Joachim Mizrahi."

"Joachin Miz--What?" I sputtered. "Why?"

"It was while we were in Old Miltia, after we went to save the Elsa," she replied, still struggling to remember.

"Joachim Mizrahi was an exceptional human being," chaos offered in explanation. "He was the first person I know of to come into full knowledge of the universe without losing his mind to the fear of it."

Shion nodded somberly and clutched her hands to her chest. "We saw KOS-MOS here..."

She stepped out into the field. The gentle wind sweeping across the lake blew through her hair and her clothes as she turned her head from side to side, taking in the whole of the scenery.

"That's right. KOS-MOS was standing over there, by the shore. And then, I saw Mary. She was crying, and holding someone in her arms."

chaos looked down reverently, and closed his eyes.

Shion continued to walk slowly into the field. The flowers were now taking on bright shades of pink and violet. "Someone dear to her had been lost, and so... I promised I would help her find the way, just as I was trying to find it."

I watched in a respectful silence as chaos approached Shion, and put his hands on her shoulders supportively. "It's okay. You don't need to remember. These are simplly memories resonating from the unconscious domain, in your spirit."

Shitan looked to me, obviously wondering if I had any idea what was going on. I didn't, but I had a good idea. "Seems to me that what led us here is obvious," I smiled. "KOS-MOS is here!"

They turned to me and Shion gave me an odd look. "Why do you think that? Mary and KOS-MOS... aren't the same anymore. I thought, actually, that we might find out what became of Mary by coming here."

"Geocrystal?" I said, waving my hands around excitedly as I had a habit of doing when I had a hard time explaining things. "KOS-MOS's frame shows up as a geocrystal on scanners sometimes. In fact, I think that's how the Captain told me he first found her!"

"It's too small to be KOS-MOS's frame," Shion argued.

"Stop being so pessimistic!" I responded. "You want to find her, right? Look! Maybe... KOS-MOS came here, because this was part of her memories too, even though Mary left her body. She knew that you would be led to this place!"

Shitan continued to examine the area, pushing his glasses up from time to time. "Let us not forget," he added. "Ellen told Jr. that this is the place where people came, seeking out their friend. If this KOS-MOS person is that important to you, then Jr.'s idea must be likely."

"Mary is not here," chaos said, with that ever-present tone of wisdom. "We don't need to look for her. However... KOS-MOS has to be sleeping on this planet _somewhere._"

"I'm just worried about Ellen," Shion said. "We can't afford to waste any time. If what I'm thinking is right, then... she's in great danger."

"Perhaps I should have stayed behind," Shitan said anxiously.

"Wait, hold it," I went on. "We need to find KOS-MOS right? So our plan doesn't change. We're in the right place, you just gotta have some faith. Everybody _calm down._"

There was a brief silence as they took deep breaths, and a cool wind swept across the field. It was a bit stronger than the winds that had been blowing all day. I took a deep breath and released it again, but it failed to relax me.

This settling moment was interrupted by a whistling, winding sound that seemed to carry on the wind. It was a tune like music, and its notes were woefully familiar.

"Please tell me that you don't hear that," Shion said.

"I hear it," I sighed. "This is just great."

"I don't hear anything," Shitan said, perplexed, and began turning his head left and right looking for a source of the noise that we could hear but he could not.

Then Guy began to bark. I wonder if he heard it as well. It was unlikely, but the four of us turned our heads up to the sky to see what was the matter. What we saw there was not a good sign.

There was an unnatural aurora in the sky. Although there are certainly many conditions that may cause such lights; chaos, Shion, and I only knew of one.

"How strange," Shitan said. He took off his glasses, rubbed them on his shirt, and put them on again.

"Has it begun to happen already?" Shion exclaimed.

"Hey don't look at me, I didn't jinx us or anything!"

"What's going on?" Shitan asked us urgently.

"The Gnosis," chaos replied. "Lost souls, aggressive creatures from the imaginary realm."

"That _does_ sound rather unpleasant," Shitan chuckled bitterly.

"But where is it coming from?" chaos asked no one specifically, as the song continued. "I can't sense the source--" Then, after wavering in his stance a bit, he whimpered slightly and fell on his knees as if a sickness had overcome him.

"Hey?" I asked frantically, and knelt down beside him as he grasped his head like it was hurting him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid we may be too late after all," he said softly through the pain. "I can feel Mary's power being channeled through the Zohar. If this keeps up, the entire planet will be consumed, followed shortly by the rest of the universe..."

"Just take it easy," I said in a low tone, and held his shoulders steady. "This is having an adverse affect on you, apparently."

"I'm fine," chaos said, trying not to to groan the words out, and stood again. "It's passing. I'll be fine."

A hint of the urgency Shitan was feeling showed through his cool exterior as he watched me tend to chaos. "Are you saying that something has happened to Ellen?"

chaos steadied himself before answering. "I fear events may already be in motion. We must find KOS-MOS quickly."

Shitan had a chance to see exactly the truth of what chaos was saying as a fissure opened in the sky a visible distance from where we stood. A bulbous, translucent figure, wavering between our world and the next, began to emerge from the rift. Guy began to bark again and to growl protectively. "What in God's name is that?" Shitan asked.

"Gnosis," I said, and drew my guns. More Gnosis were appearing in the sky, and I imagined that many were on the ground as well. "The plague that will consume this world unless we can stop it."

"And how exactly do we do that?" Shitan replied.

"A few Gnosis never slowed me down!" I answered, more ready to fight than I ever had been in my entire life.

"We don't have the Hilbert Effect!" Shion reminded me, after getting a bearing on the situation. "There's not a lot we can do except run!" She reached for her connection gear and began to contact the Elsa.

"But what if KOS-MOS really is here?" I asked her. "Is it possible for us to come back to this place if we reveal the Elsa?"

"With monsters coming out of the sky," Shitan said, "I doubt that the inhabitants of Earth will care to notice your ship!"

"True enough," I answered, and as I did so, many of the smaller, swarming Gnosis began to pour out of the sky. "Dammit!" I shouted, and shot at them, but the bullets phased through. "Stop coming back, already! You bastards don't know when to give up!"

It happened so quickly. One moment they were not there, the next moment they were. Before we could formulate the best method of retreat, the golden winged insect types were already upon us in a swarm.

Shitan brandished his weapon and began slashing away, but the blade simply passed through their bodies without effect. chaos, with his special ability, had a bit of luck, but he was only one person, and he was not totally recovered from his sudden affliction. I ran for cover with Shion and the others followed behind us. I kept shooting to hold them off, though it had little effect. Unfortunately, there was nothing there to hide behind.

Then the larger ground-walking types appeared, trampling the flowers under their elephant-like feet. They sensed us as the only humans in the immediate area and converged upon us quickly, though our suspicions were correct that they were covering the entire Earth at that very moment in incredible numbers.

A blue monster, much taller than a human, with long ribbed arms, materialized close to us and attacked. I pushed Shion back, and it struck me airborne. "Jr.!" she shouted as I hit the ground several feet away, and it went after her.

"I'm okay," I coughed, but I was winded and had trouble standing up again. "Watch out!"

chaos went to assist her, but another long-armed freak got in his path. He was able to defeat it, but it still took a moment that Shion didn't have. Shitan began to run to her, but with only his blade, there was little he could do, and he was barred as well.

The Gnosis raised its arms over her head and poised itself to crush her. It struck at her once, and she rolled nimbly out of its way. A second attack was more than she could dodge, however, and struck her from behind. It didn't injure her, but it was enough to knock her flat onto the ground, and another pounding was imminent. I got on my feet and ran to her as the Gnosis attacked again, throwing myself down to absorb the blow. Shion was sure mad at me for that one, but hell if I'm going to let a mother take a hit while I'm still kicking. _Oh, get over yourself. You're just trying to look cool. _

It wailed on me one good time, while Shion flinched, registering what was happening. She did not shriek or cry out, but I did see her wince and tear as my back was nearly crushed by the creature's arm. She probably screamed something at me, but I couldn't hear her, since I was firing bullets into it in vain.

It raised another part of it's body. I couldn't tell you which. Gnosis don't really have much ground for comparison when it comes to anatomy, but I can tell you that it was pointed and could have easily impaled a man. This wasn't just going to hurt a hell of a lot, it was going to be mortal if it struck us. I decided pretty quickly that if one of us was going to get hit by that thing that it was going to be me, no matter what Shion had to say about how stupid I was. I'm not sure if I really feared for my life, we've been through so much worse, you know? But I knew that I had made that decision. It wasn't chivalry or pride or anything like that. Shion is my friend.

There are many things that can go through a person's head in a mere split-second. Shion could read right through me. I bet she already had a lecture to give me prepared, just in that millisecond. Because I'm her friend too, and I know she would beat herself up to no end if I did pathetically eat it then and there because she would throw herself over me all the same. She was thinking, I'd assume, that she's about to lose another friend. That she came all this way, and she's about to lose someone again, and for nothing. Funny... that's how you were feeling too, isn't it?

"Stop it!" she screamed. I'm not sure if that was directed at me for being selflessly stupid, at the Gnosis, or just the universe in general, for yanking us left and right for such a long way. "Stop!" Someone heard her.

There was an explosion on the ground. I flinched prematurely as rock and dirt flew into the air and then rained down upon us. Then I realized, this wasn't a long-range attack from a Gnosis, or the piercing blow I was expecting. This blast had come from underneath the ground.

Saved by the distraction, I looked in the direction of the explosion. A beam of brilliant white light rose up from the earth. As the radiance faded, something shot out of the hole and into the air. It was a human form, a woman's form.

"Activating Ultra-Wide-Range Hilbert Effect!" were the words that I heard. My mouth dropped open more in elation than complete surprise as KOS-MOS fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of the flower petals, and her Hilbert Effect waves washed over the entire area.

She then sprung up again so fast that I hadn't caught much of the sight of her. "KOS-MOS!" Shion cried as the android's swung downwards like a club, crushing the Gnosis that threatened us. KOS-MOS then spun around on her standing leg and kicked it so hard that it flew down the field, literally bouncing.

"Whoo hoo, all right!" I hollered, and shot up from the ground. My back ached from the blow, but the thought of landing a few successful shots on the Gnosis, which were now solid and easily targeted, made the pain seem insignificant. Shitan went by my lead and swung his sword in a graceful arc, slicing through the fleshy appendages of the one nearest him. It's really satisfying after being sucker punched by a punk Gnosis that won't materialize, to just beat the ever living hell out of it.

Shion's first reaction was to jump up and throw her arms around KOS-MOS, I'm sure, but KOS-MOS held out her hand to halt her. "Shion. I am overjoyed to see you. However, our reunion must wait until this battle has ended."

Shion was just too incredibly overjoyed to compute that. She was snapped out of this mode however, as a school of the small, airborne Gnosis swarmed over us again. KOS-MOS took a step in front of Shion from the angle that they approached and began to kick and punch them out of the air.

"Please stand with the others Shion, it is the safest formation."

"Y-yes, KOS-MOS!" Shion nodded, nearly crying for happiness, and obeyed.

"Hey, Shitan!" I shouted, as we pulled together into a ring, except for KOS-MOS, who bounded around like an acrobat, using her arms and legs as melee weapons. "Do you still have that 8mm?"

"Yes," he responded, while slicing a Gnosis side to side. "I was not so unwise as to take it to the_ high security facility_ with me, but I do--"

"Yeah-yeah, just hand it here if you're not using it!"

Shitan gave me a confused expression, most likely wondering why I needed a third if I already had two, but complied. He tossed the weapon my way.

I caught its handle with the finger of one hand while still firing with the other, then turned and slung it through the air with all the force I had in my body. "KOS-MOS!" I shouted, and watched it fly. Soon as I did, KOS-MOS snatched it out of the air, and it was too fast to see her land next to me, but I could feel her at my back.

"Thank you for your assistance," she said, and I would have replied_ no problem_, but the air filled up with the noise of her pistol firing, and I continued to fire mine as well. _Bang-bang-bang!_ Three shots with each sound, just like that! _Bang!_

_...This gets you excited, doesn't it?_

And KOS-MOS's aim was perfect, better than mine, even. That little standard issue 8mm didn't do her justice at all. I'd like to get her a nice Desert Eagle. The recoil would be no problem for her, and it'd look really cool too.

_Are you even listening to me?_

We swept over the battlefield from both sides, like experts playing a carnival game, eighteen perfect shots until her clip had emptied.

"Shion," KOS-MOS said. "The Gnosis are currently overwhelming this planet's peace-keeping forces. I suggest that we eliminate the source of the problem immediately."

Before Shion could answer, there was a fierce howl. An enormous whale-like Gnosis had materialized completely in the air above us. "That isn't good," I said. It looked like it could fire down on us at any minute, or just _fall_ on us, and do the same damage.

"I do not currently possess the power output necessary to shield us from harm," KOS-MOS said. "I suggest a swift retreat. The Elsa is--"

Her sentence was cut off as the Erde Blue appeared suddenly, and crashed into the Gnosis, sending it down to the ground a safe distance away, skidding into the ground. I watched in amazement as the craft lorded over the field with its submachine guns. Allen's voice broke over a speaker. "Shion! Are you okay?"

"Yes, Allen, we are fine," KOS-MOS replied, routing her voice to Allen's communications line. "Thank you for your assistance."

"KOS-MOS!" Allen replied, then, "Waaah!" as the Gnosis rose from the ground where he had smashed it. I chucked as he frantically got his bearings back and put the Gnosis down for good, along with the rest of the large ones in the area, as we ran. "I'll cover you! Please board the Elsa now!"

"Affirmative!" KOS-MOS replied. She turned sharply to chaos. "Do you require assistance?"

"What?" chaos replied, blinking. He was stunned by her sudden reappearance as well, despite having expected it more than any of us. "No, I'm just fi--"

"There is no need to hide your weakened condition," KOS-MOS said, and I'd be damned if there wasn't a hint of a smile on her face when she said it. "Please allow me to carry you."

"No, I couldn't--"

"Let her carry you or _I'll_ carry you," I demanded with a laugh. chaos chose KOS-MOS, who promptly piggy-backed him to safety.

"Is she some sort of robot?" Shitan asked us as we ran, fascinated and momentarily distracted from Elly's possible plight. The Elsa landed on the field, and dropped its boarding platform without completely landing in order to give us a speedy takeoff.

"She's an android, man!" I chuckled with the response, and slapped on the back. "Shion might hit you if you tried to take her apart, though!" I whistled loudly for Guy's attention. "Come on boy, we're getting out of here!"

We leapt into the Elsa, and the doors closed behind us. Once we were clear, Allen caught up with the Erde Blue and reentered the hangar. Inside the Elsa's hall, the Captain's voice beckoned on the comm system. "Where to, Little Master?"

"I'm sending you the coordinates," Shion replied, and plugged the location of the Zohar facility into the Elsa's navigation through her connection gear. When she finished, she turned and faced KOS-MOS, who had let chaos down and was now standing, staring at her.

"Shion," she said. "The danger has passed for the moment. Now I would like to resume our greeting." After saying that, she walked to Shion, and put her arms around her gently. "I have missed you, Shion."

Shion stared unblinkingly over the android's shoulder, amazed that KOS-MOS had actually initiated this embrace. She closed her eyes shut, and a tear dripped down her cheek. "I'm so happy to see," she said, returning KOS-MOS's hug. "We've all been so worried..."

"If I have caused you all stress, then I apologize," she answered with a slight smile, as they let go of each other. That out of the way, I decided it was my turn.

"Stress like you wouldn't believe!" I laughed, giving KOS-MOS a firm clap on the shoulder. "But it's worth it, okay? It's so great to have you back!"

"Jr.," she returned, blinking blankly at me. "I detect that your body mass has increased dramatically."

"Uh... yeah," I replied awkwardly. "Growth spurt?"

"Could you please inform me of the current situation?" she asked. "How long have I been inactive? Judging by your appearance, I would estimate that some years have gone by. However, this is assuming that your growth was natural, as we all know is _not_ generally the case."

"Yeah, I'm a freak all right," I laughed. "How should I put it..."

"Well, KOS-MOS," chaos said in an incredibly relieved tone. "There's more than one way of looking at that."

The sound of rambunctious shuffling in the hallway approached us just as we were about to move our congregation to the bridge. "Assistant Number Three!" wailed the professor loudly, as he and Scott came running. Tears were streaming out of their eyes as they both ran head on into KOS-MOS, hugging her. "Our loveliest and most graceful child has returned home at last!"

"Today is the most joyous day of my life!" Scott added, crying.

"Whoa, lay off, you guys!" I said, trying to pry the professor off of poor KOS-MOS.

"Professor," KOS-MOS said. "I require a generator transplant, if you have the equipment and the ability to do this hastily. My current power source has insufficient output for battle. Besides, I need to return the current, temporary unit to Jr."

"Return it?" I asked.

Before she had time to explain, another pair of feet--much smaller this time--ran into the room, followed by Allen. Suou looked up at KOS-MOS energetically. "Wow, it's a robot lady! And a dog!" I'm not sure which he was more excited about.

"Suou," Shion scolded him. "You be nice and introduce yourself to KOS-MOS instead of pointing at her like that!"

"Sorry," Suou apologized. "I'm Suou Uzuki-Ridgeley, nice to meet you, Miss Robot Lady."

"You may refer to me as KOS-MOS," Shion told the boy, and then looked up at Allen and then to Shion. "Shion, I detect a combination of your and Allen's DNA within this child. ...Is physical punishment in order?"

"W-what?" Allen sputtered, and looked like he would pass out.

"No, KOS-MOS!" Shion gasped in sudden embarrassment. "Allen and I are married now!"

"I anticipated that," KOS-MOS responded. "I was merely joking."

I burst out laughing at that, as Shion and Allen stared at KOS-MOS in shock and awe. "Wow, that was a good one, KOS-MOS!" Then I looked around at everyone, they were all smiling. I liked that. "I'll head to the bridge," I said. "Allen, Shion, you better help the Professor with KOS-MOS. Take Shitan too, I bet he'd like to see you working."

"Only if it's no trouble," Shitan added.

"Okay!" Shion agreed. "Let's go! Come on, KOS-MOS. We'll have you fixed up in no time. I'll have to fix your poor frame too, oh my... your legs and arms don't match, do they?"

"I encountered some difficulties after our parting," KOS-MOS explained. "MOMO and Miyuki were able to outfit me with sufficient start-up equipment, but these attachments do not match your previous work."

"We'll do what we can on the way there," Allen said with a smile. "Jr., would you mind watching Suou?"

"No problem," I said, and ruffled the boy's hair. "Come on buddy, we're going on the bridge!"

"Aw, I want to see KOS-MOS some more!"

"KOS-MOS is sick," I explained. "You can see her plenty after your Mom gives her a checkup, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed in a disappointed tone. He and chaos followed me to the bridge. As we entered the doors, he tugged on my pants leg. "Hey, can KOS-MOS fly?"

"Uh," I answered, "Not that I know of."

"Only with an attachment of some kind," chaos knowledgeably replied. Suou was satisfied with that answer as the doors shut behind us and we found that the crew on the bridge was frantic. Tony and Hammer were hard at work avoiding Gnosis, Shelley was aiding them the best she could, and Mary was looking over their work with the captain.

"Little Master!" she said. "What happened out there? And good grief... don't tell me you picked up another dog!"

"We found KOS-MOS," I answered. "Now all that's left to do is save the world, and we'll be outta here!"

"Well, I suppose we've done that more than once before," Captain Matthews grumbled. "Shelley, inform the Little Master of our current situation."

"Gnosis have appeared in incredible numbers, all across this world as well as the space surrounding it," she replied. "We are currently making our way to Toronto, Canada. However, the Gnosis are making this slow-going, and we anticipate fire from the local forces as well, who lack the ability to discern us from Gnosis."

"Try to give them a hand if you can anyway," I said. "KOS-MOS used the Hilbert Effect, that should help a little. As for the assault, the landing party will be myself, chaos, Shion, Allen, Shitan, and KOS-MOS. Mary, you take the Erde Red and cover the Elsa while we're inside."

"Gotcha," Mary replied. "I was getting bored sitting around the bridge, anyway."

"How long will it take us, Shelley?"

Shelley raised her head. "I estimate our arrival in just under one hour."

"I hope the others can get KOS-MOS fixed up before then."

The Elsa was substantially equipped for this fight. When we left the Dammerung, we left fully loaded up for a battle just in case. Aside from our minor prehistoric run-in, we hadn't met with any problems, and not a single round had been discharged. There was plenty of ammunition to clear our way through the Gnosis. The Elsa was fairly maneuverable, as well. Tony may not be good for much, but he sure can fly when it counts.

When we were almost there, chaos and I left Guy in the care of Suou (or visa versa) and ran down to the lab, hoping to find KOS-MOS ready to go. When we arrived there, Shion was putting the finishing touches on her. However, she didn't look very different. "How's she doing?" I asked.

"With such limited time restraints, I was only able to attach some spare power boosters that we had lying around to her new arm. I wasn't able to fix her poor frame at all!"

"She looks fine to me," I answered.

Shion frowned. "She needs a new set of boots and gloves," she said. "She looks all... underdressed."

"Underdressed?" I laughed.

"As long as she's healthy," chaos added.

Shion gave him a nod. "She works, all right. She won't be anywhere near her usual battle capacity until we have more time, but she should be capable of battling a few more Gnosis with this new compressor installed."

That said, Shion smiled and hit a button on the bed where KOS-MOS laid on her back. The android's red eyes flitted open and she sat up. "My power levels have increased by thirty percent," she said, after looking at the work done on her arm. "Thank you, Shion and Allen."

"No problem," Allen said with a sigh of relief. "But hey, KOS-MOS, how did this get inside of you?" KOS-MOS's glance jumped to Allen's hand where he held two objects made out of geocrystals. "These look like hairpins!"

"What?" I balked, as KOS-MOS grabbed them from Allen, and then thrust her arm out at me, palm opened.

"MOMO implanted these within my frame so that I would have sufficient energy to restart after even 10,000 years of inactive sleep. I have now drained them of their resources. Fortunately, this does not detract from their physical appearance."

"How in the hell?" I gaped, picking the pins from her hand and then I examined them in disbelief.

"MOMO allowed me to borrow these. I would appreciate it if you would return them to her." Then there it was again, that slight smile on her face that I just couldn't get over seeing. "According to our navigational information, the Elsa will be landing in Toronto, Canada, in less than five minutes. I suggest that we prepare for battle."

"Good idea, KOS-MOS," I said, and put the pins into my pocket. Then I felt something else there and pulled it back out, the Zohar Plate. "Here, chaos," I said, handing it to him. "I better put you in charge of this thing."

chaos took it from my hand. "I will take care of it," he said.

"Shion, you got your M.W.S.?"

"Ready!" Shion replied. "Allen?"

Allen held up his crossbow. "I'm set!"

"Shitan?" I asked. "Heh... sure you want to help out?"

"It's nice having a use for my blade," Shitan said with a sly smile that was all too familiar. "Now I'm just eager to see KOS-MOS in action up close."

"I'm sure we all are," chaos said with a smile. "Let's go, then."

Our party reached the boarding doors just as the Elsa swooped down to drop us off in front of the facility. We landed in the streets and found them empty, except for the roaming Gnosis. Not a good sign. Allen and I quickly shot the Gnosis that we could see, and everyone hurried inside.

Once inside, the critical condition of the situation was much more obvious. The entire building was beginning to phase into Gnosis material, and into nothing at all in some areas, it seemed. In some spots, the floor panels were normal; and in some places it seemed that the walls were breathing, purple and red masses. Even still, some segments of floor and wall had disappeared entirely, leaving gaping holes, glowing at the edges.

"This is not good," chaos said, looking around the area as we passed through the unmanned entrance.

"Obviously," I agreed. I feared that all of the workers there might have been killed by the Gnosis already, or even worse... absorbed by the Zohar.

I drew my guns defensively as we heard a shuffling noise in the hall, but rather than a Gnosis, Doctor Masuda came shambling down the corridor, panting and reaching out for support. "Shitan!" he shouted as he stumbled on the uneven floor and fell. I lunged out to catch him, but he kept reaching for Shitan.

"Whoa, take it easy!" I said to the man.

"Shitan," he continued, as his friend came to him. Shitan kneeled by his side. "I'm sorry," he said, desperately. "This is all my fault! The Zohar-- it shouldn't have been touched by human hands. Now, Grimiore... Ellen--You have to stop them!"

"What's happened?" Shitan asked him, keeping a cool head.

"We'll press on ahead," chaos offered. He, KOS-MOS, and Allen went on. Shion stayed behind with me and Shitan, who held Masuda sitting up.

"I thought that with the Zohar, human beings could finally be free," Doctor Masuda continued in a broken, breathless, voice. I wondered if he was delirious at this point. "Free from the fear of the unknown, and of each other. I thought that with the Zohar, anything would be possible, I had idealistic dreams of peace born from ultimate knowledge. That's why..."

"Relax and clear your head," Shitan told him. "You're obviously injured."

"No," I said, looking down. There was no wound, but his fate seemed obvious. "This man has been touched by a Gnosis."

"What does that mean?" Shitan asked me, alarmed.

Masuda continued, as if he hadn't heard us. "I was so willing to use the Gnosis to that end that I... I went with Grimiore, I shunned my best friend, my mentor... Now Ellen is..."

Shitan shook him gently in an attempt to snap him out of it. Then he looked up at me again. "What will happen to him?"

I didn't want to tell him, but we had no time to spare on putting things delicately. "Either he will die, or he will become one of them," I said gravely. It was at that moment that Masuda fell unconscious. His body was not rippling, but I could not tell how long he had. "It could be immediate, or it could take days..."

Shion, however, remained hopeful. "If we're able to stop the Zohar before then, then maybe..."

Shitan laid him against one portion of the building that was not yet Gnosified, or disappearing. "Then we must stop this," he said, touching his hand to his friend's head tenderly. His frown let me know that there was fever there.

"There don't seem to be any Gnosis on this level," I said, calmly. "He'll be all right, but we have to press on, or he'll be screwed." We looked up at the sound of Allen's weapon discharging, then there was a blast from KOS-MOS's new equipment. "Come on," I added, and jumped up. "We've got no time to spare!"

The two of them raced to the next area with me, where chaos and the others were finishing off a large, green, thickly-built Gnosis and several of it's smaller, golden-winged buddies. He turned to look at me. "The elevator doesn't work," he said. "We'll have to take the stairs."

KOS-MOS was already blowing the doors off of the stairwell. "This way," she commanded, and raced up. "chaos and I will go forward to ensure the safety of the area. I fear that normal humans exposed to certain levels of the Zohar's power may undergo the same affects as those touched by Gnosis, or disappear entirely."

"Thanks for that, then," Allen laughed nervously.

chaos and KOS-MOS raced up the stairs boldly ahead of us. I followed next, then Allen and Shion, followed by Shitan who took up the rear. We ran up the stairwell, leaping across patches of fading steps and climbing across the railing at parts to get through. The Gnosis continued to block us, but with our combined power and our previous experience, they were no match so long as KOS-MOS's Hilbert Effect made them vulnerable.

"It would appear that the Zohar containment area begins at floor thirty," KOS-MOS called down to us. "Please watch your step, as the stairs are beginning to deteriorate!"

As if in response to that, Shion and I both yelped and the floor gave out under us. Shitan and Allen grabbed Shion by either hand, while I struggled to hold onto the edge of what remained. "Gee, thanks guys!" I shouted sarcastically as they pulled Shion to safety before coming to my aide. Allen then grabbed my arms and hauled me up with some effort. The floor continued to fade away.

"We have to run for it, before the entire place disappears!" Shion announced, as the stairs evaporated underneath our feet.

"That's pretty much what I was already doing," I laughed, though the situation didn't call for humor.

Finally we reached the Zohar containment area, which was composed of the top ten floors of the facility. It was a large warehouse with skeletal frames everywhere, several beams of which were completely dissolved, causing the platforms and walls that they supported to crash. The roof of the facility was open, from having transported the Zohar into the facility by air. The Zohar itself was at the center, glowing as it had the moment it was found, and sending a beam of pure white light into the sky. A swirl of clouds formed overhead, and swarms of Gnosis of all shapes, sizes, and colors encircled it, fascinated and drawn to its glow.

KOS-MOS stretched out her hand to halt us. "Stay back," she said. "It is dangerous beyond this point, even for chaos and I."

"Ah! Look!" Shion shouted, and pointed to the center of the Zohar, where a bright green gem-like object much like an eye was glowing with it's unlimited power. In the center was Ellen, her eyes were wide open and blank.

"Ellen!" Shitan shouted, and darted forward, but he was stopped by KOS-MOS. He looked to her in desperation. "What can we do?"

Someone else began to shamble towards us out of the rubble left behind by one of the partial collapses. He was a man of forty years or more, with dark brown hair and a beard. His clothes were strange compared to most I had seen on Earth so far. The were long, dark-colored robes, as if this person considered himself a holy man. Around his neck was the same style cross as what Ellen wore, herself.

He lurched to Shitan and fell at his feet. "God, save her!" he cried, grabbing at Shitan's leg.

"What did you _do_ to her?" Shitan responded in a harsh, bitter voice, kneeling to his knees and shaking the man violently.

"Oh God forgive me," he mumbled, almost incoherently. "I... I used her for the link experiment, to touch God-- because she's an angel, you see? No one else was worthy--"

"Geez, How many crackpots do you _know_?" I asked Shitan, but he was in no mood for my joke, and understandably so.

"You've doomed your daughter and us all," Shitan said. Before the point was properly drilled in, however, the leader of the Zohar Project passed out.

"Damn!" Shitan shouted, pushing Grimiore aside. He made a move for the Zohar again. "Ellen, wake up!"

KOS-MOS grabbed him and held him still. "If you proceed past this point, you _will_ perish," she told him.

"What do we do?" Shion asked. "We can't get any closer!"

"I don't know," chaos said. "The answer should appear to us, but it hasn't--" He clutched his chest again, suddenly gripped by the pain he had felt earlier. He lurched, and struggled to remain standing, as Allen offered him a hand. "I don't know," he said apologetically.

"We have to do _something_!" I shouted.

A heavy shadow fell over the facility from the sky. I looked up, along with the others, expecting fully to see a whale of a Gnosis about to drop itself on our heads like a dive-bomber. Just what we needed. But instead, each and every one of us was amazed to see that it was... a ship in the air.

"What the hell?" I spouted at the sight of it. "Where did that come from?"

We couldn't believe it. There was actually a space-faring ship in the sky. It was a cruiser-sized vessel, not quite as long as the Durandal (may she rest in peace), but several times wider and large enough to instill a sense of awe at the least, especially to those of us on the ground. Its outer hull was silver, and it sparkled with the lights of hundreds of small windows and openings on its surface. It's shape was like nothing I had ever seen. The only marking that I could make out as it hovered over the facility was a large symbol the shape of a figure eight. Infinity.

"That's a Scientia vessel!" Shion shouted.

Immediately after we heard her, another voice, this one new and unfamiliar, blared into our ears. It was a young male's voice. "Attention, you on the ground! Back away to safety! We'll handle this!"

There were silhouettes against the clouds. They fell from a small drop ship encircling the vessel into the building. They landed in front of us, young men and women dressed in greys and blacks, somehow protected from the power of the Zohar, as even KOS-MOS and chaos had been unable to.

"Who the hell are you guys?" I shouted to them. Before they answered, if they were even going to answer, the Gnosis took particular notice of this and turned their combined focus on the area.

"Damn," the leader of the group said, the one who had barked at us. His suit was marked with a silver stripe that the others did not have, obviously signifying rank. "Hey, protect those civilians over there," he commanded some of them. He then turned to find that KOS-MOS, Allen, Shion, Shitan, and myself, were fairly capable of holding our own. "What the hell?" he asked, as he watched Shion discharge her MWS. "This planet shouldn't have that level of technology, should it?"

"No time for that!" one of his subordinates, also a young man, shouted back to him, and began to run to the Zohar. "That girl up there is in danger!"

The captain of the group looked up at the Zohar. "Is she being absorbed, or something?" he gasped. Then he began to yell at his friend. "Hey, be careful, you idiot!"

"Whoever these guys are," I said, "They're able to enter that area, so let's help them out!" In demonstration of that decision, I shot at an airborne Gnosis that had gone in pursuit of the errant subordinate, who was intent on saving Ellen. It screamed and fizzled out of existence as the young man ducked to brace himself.

"Thanks!" he shouted back at me in relief over the distance.

"Sharp shot," the captain said in approval, nodding in my direction. I couldn't see any of their faces through their helmets, but it seemed like this one must be grinning. He drew his own weapon, which was simply a handle, until along, ether charged fiber lit up as he held it. The way he wielded that thing was odd, he flailed it at the Gnosis like a whip, catching one and flinging it into another.

"What the hell is that supposed to be?" I chuckled.

"Hey shut up and be glad we're saving your asses," the man replied. I could tell that he was younger than I am.

Shitan and KOS-MOS were also busy combating the Gnosis. KOS-MOS was able to approach a bit farther than the rest of us, and helped the subordinates of this young captain to make short work of the swarm. They seemed in awe of her moves, but that's no surprise. No matter how bad they might have been, KOS-MOS could show them up with her incredibly swift motions and a blast or two from her arm.

Allen and Shion stayed by chaos's side. "That man," chaos struggled to say, looking up at the soldier who was attempting to climb up to the center of the Zohar.

"What about him?" Allen asked. "Do you know what's going on?"

"We're in luck," chaos said, and forced himself to smile. "That much I do know."

The young man in question used the boosters equipped in his gear to leap up to the gem at the center of the Zohar. The Song of Nephilim was now so loud and clear, that even Shitan was able to hear it over the roar of the battle. Ellen's body was glowing golden, and her violet eyes were fixed ahead, lifeless.

"Wait!" Shion shouted to the captain. "If your man over there touches the Zohar, he'll--"

"Normally, yes, a human would disappear," the man said. "But not him-- just trust me."

The blank expression in Ellen's eyes did wane as the man reached out to touch her. She blinked and looked through his visor, into the young man's eyes. "Stop," she said weakly. She couldn't say anything else, but she began to whimper as if she felt a great deal of pain, and she cried.

"It's okay," the man said. "Just focus on me now."

Then he reached his arms out, and pushed his hands into the surface of the Zohar itself, into the bright azure stone glowing brightly, which Ellen's body had sunken into. He reached until he could feel her, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "None of us is alone here," he said. "Just remember who you are, and who you wanted to be."

"What is he doing?" I wondered aloud, as we watched from below. Shion was wondering the same thing, as well as everyone else.

Slowly, the jewel eye of the Zohar turned from its glaring ocean green to a bright, blinding white. We shielded our eyes from it as the light grew, and bathed the entire area and even the sky in its brightness. We were unable to open our eyes for several seconds, which were long and tense to us.

"Ellen!" Shitan shouted in the glare.

"Please remain where you are," KOS-MOS commanded, as the light began to fade. "The danger has not yet passed."

The light then receded, and thankfully, the Gnosis along with it. In the sky, they were fading away. "Hey, all right," I chuckled, as I noticed them phasing out of existence, or at the very least, out of our realm. Perhaps they were satisfied, not that Ellen's consciousness had returned to her body. I guess, like you, she just had to remember who she was for a minute there.

chaos stood again, slowly. "I think the worst of it is over," he said, as the last of the light diminished, leaving the Zohar its normal--if you can call it _normal_--lustrous gold. He took a deep breath, recovering from the affects of what had just transpired.

The soldier floated down from the Zohar, seemingly unscathed, with Ellen safely curled into his arms. Her clothing, the white dress she wore, was visible again, though it had been ripped and nearly torn from her shoulders. His feet touched the ground with a light tap, breaking the utter silence that fell over us all.

"Are you okay?" he asked her, and helped her to stand on her feet.

"Y-yes," she said, hesitantly. "I think I am... thanks to you."

Shitan broke away from us, now with KOS-MOS's permission, and smiled broadly. "Oh, what a relief!" he sighed. "Ellen, be easier on your Professor, would you? I'm getting older, you know."

Ellen laughed. "I'm sorry, I really don't know what just happened, myself..."

"Well!" the captain said, clapping his hands together. "Whatever the hell just happened, it wrapped itself up pretty quick!" He walked to his friend and Ellen where they stood together.

"Who the hell are you guys?" I asked, repeating my question from earlier.

The man with the silver stripe on his suit turned back to us, laughing, and removed his helmet. Underneath, he had blonde hair that fell to his shoulders in a cut which seemed a bit too wild for an officer, but I was no one to judge. The most unusual thing about him, is that he seemed to be missing an eye. It had either been damaged beyond repair, or the piece that now covered it was implanted by the owner's choice. He grinned at us in a strangely familiar way.

"Greetings, Earth people!" he said, clapping a fist to his chest proudly. "I'm Bartholomew Kukai, Leader of Section 4 of Scientia's special assignment task forces and Captain of the Yggdrassil Cruiser Class Starship. Our assignment was to assist you in the containment of this uh... this _Zohar thing_ you have here."

"Scientia?" Shion gasped. At the same moment, I was reeling over the word _Kukai _more, myself.

"Um, yeah," he went on, and putting his helmet under and arm, he began to walk over to us with a slight swagger. "How can I explain this... sheesh, you probably will think I'm an alien."

"I _know_ what Scientia is, I'm a _member_!" Shion exclaimed. "How did you get here, did you use time travel as well?"

"Time travel?" he repeated, and blinked at her.

"And where did you get a name like _Kukai_?" I asked him, before he could have possibly had the time to process all of that.

His mouth fell open, offended. "I happen to be from a long line descended from the saviors of the galaxy, I'll have you know! My name has been in my family for... for thousands of years! Geez, I hope all of your planet's inhabitants aren't this rude!"

The soldier who had saved Ellen and still stood near her groaned lightly and gave his attention back to his captain. "Do you have to tell that same story everywhere we go?" he complained softly as he removed his own helmet. A long trail of black hair fell down his back, tied neatly at the neck. At first glance he seemed calm, probably a nice guy even. For some reason though, Shion recoiled at the sight of him.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Um," she said with a shudder. "That feeling that I didn't feel in the Zohar?"

"Yeah?"

"Suddenly, I feel it again..."

And then it hit me too like a slow wave, that unsettling feeling. It was not nearly intense as I had ever felt it before. In fact, I could have mistaken it for the Zohar's radiance, but it was noticeable once Shion pointed it out. Some sort of wavelength that disagreed with my own was coming from this gentle young man. He appeared to be completely oblivious to this feeling, however.

I watched her fumbling for a way to explain it to us, but the loud-mouthed commander spoke again before I could help her to do so. "Hey, why don't you stop flirting with the local girls and come help me explain the situation?" he barked at the other soldier.

"That's not in my job description," the brown-haired young man replied flatly, and then sighed. "But... in the interest of making things run more smoothly, I, uh..." He cleared his throat, made a visible attempt to gather his nerves, and continued. "Well, we are from a society that you would likely consider to be very advanced. Until recently, your planet has been hidden from us by a distortion in the real numbers realm. After the activation of this object, I was-- _we_ were able to pinpoint your location and access this area via the UMN."

"UMN?" Ellen asked him. "I don't understand any of this... you sensed when my father tried to activate the Zohar? Oh no!" she shuddered in sudden realization. "Where is my dad?"

"He's over there, being treated by our new friends," Shitan said with a huff. Grimiore was in the hands of the so-called Scientia officers.

"He'll be fine," the young man promised. "As for the UMN, it's a massive infor--"

"Hey, you!" his captain cut him off. This new outburst was directed at Shion, along with a pointed finger. "You said you're a member of Scientia? What do you mean?"

"Up until the UMN's collapse, I was a member under Doctus's special forces," Shion explained with dignity.

"UMN collapse? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Are you from T.C. 4775?" Shion answered him with yet another question, putting her hands on her hips.

"T.C.?" he balked in return. "As in Transcent Christ? Lady, you're insane!"

"Hey, don't you go calling her crazy, you whacko!" I retorted to the blonde-haired man. Allen grimaced at the way all three of us were getting so riled, while KOS-MOS simply watched, unsurprised.

Before our conversation dipped further into questions with no answers and petty insults, chaos stepped forward, and after waiting quite some time to get everyone's attention, spoke up.

"Perhaps I can help to explain this," he said. "My group is actually not from this world either. We are from the T.C. era, when the original UMN collapsed and was rebuilt by Scientia. We came here to save the universe from its inevitable destruction."

"Oh sure, you expect me to believe that?" the captain interjected sharply, with a laugh. "So I guess one of you is my multi-great grandad eh? Dream on!"

"Hey!" I shouted. "Would you shut up and listen to him, you punk?" I raised my fists but chaos promptly pushed them down again. "Sorry," I muttered and huffed angrily. "This kid is getting on my nerves!"

"I know it's hard to believe," chaos said to him, "but it is true. Ten thousand years ago, this planet was revived in a distorted realm between the real and the imaginary. It developed in the same way as the planet had before, from the first civilization to these modern times. But meanwhile, I believe that the outside world continued to grow. So... all three parties here are essentially from different time periods."

"I'm not sure what is going on," said the more level-headed, subordinate officer, "But we were instructed by our leaders to find a man named chaos. Is that you?"

"Yes," chaos replied. "That's me."

"Well then," the captain interjected, with a sudden jovial sort of expression. His mood had certainly changed fast. "I guess this is for you!" He waved to a few more of the soldiers that had descended into the place, and they carried over a beautiful box with sleek, rounded edges. "Some weird orders we got from up top," he continued, and gave the box a slap. "I don't even know what's inside of this myself, but our orders told us that the people we'd meet here would know how to open it."

"We don't know any more than you guys do," I huffed.

The calm brunette man continued to look at Ellen. "I'm sorry this is all so confusing," he said. "Are you with them?"

"No, Doctor Shitan here and I are residents of this planet, really," she laughed awkwardly. "That sounds so strange to say..."

"I'm not used to it either," Shitan agreed.

"Well don't worry," he said. "Now that our cultures have made contact, we'll do everything we can to peacefully co-exist with your planet. We're not space invaders, or anything like that."

"Oh, I know," she replied. "You're human, just like all of us. I will do my best to help you, as the first inhabitant of Earth to meet your people." Then she shyly reached her hand out. "I'm Ellen, but most of my friends just call me Elly. Do you shake hands in your culture?"

"We do," he replied, and took hers. "I'm Fei."

Ellen laughed. "Let's be good friends and set an example for both our worlds."

"Sure thing," he replied with a smile.

"Haha," Shitan laughed. "I'm just relieved that you're both safe. That was quite risky, young man."

Fei shook his head. "It's nothing. I uh... I'm not really affected by Zohar waves the same as normal people."

The blonde-haired captain groaned after watching this and began harassing his friend again. "Would you stop all that chatting it up and help me figure out how to open this damn box?!"

Meanwhile, our party had been trying to figure out what to do with it ourselves. "It appears to operate by an audio password," KOS-MOS said, and then she turned to chaos. "Can you recall any passwords that may be significant?"

"Not really, no," he replied. "Sorry... I really have no idea."

Shion recovered from the odd feeling that she was experiencing, and walked up to inspect the box. She kneeled next to it and scratched her chin. "I don't know if our ancestors would have had anything to do with this box, but just in case, I can try one," she said, and cleared her throat. "Ye shall be as gods," she said loudly and clearly.

Seams appeared on the box's smooth surface in response, and the hissing sound of airtight decompression was heard. We watched as the thing opened on its own. The lid separated into four sections and unfolded, revealing it's contents. It was a small item, in a black recess. A silver plate, identical to the one that chaos now had in his possession.

"_Now_ I'm confused," I said.

"Ah, well there you go," the captain of the Scientia team said, as if he knew what he was talking about. "So... It's a mini-Zohar thing... _great_."

KOS-MOS reached her hand out and lifted the plate from its container. "chaos," she said. "The wavelengths emitting from this item match yours exactly. They are the same item, possessing the same power."

"Or the same potential at least," chaos said with a smile, and then looked up to the Zohar. "I have an idea. This object," he said, and held his plate. "It represents my power, it also binds many souls that MOMO managed to satisfy ten thousand years ago. But there was only one... only one direction for those souls to flow in. With two in our possession, we may be able to divide the power of the Zohar itself into balance... like Anima, and Animus. I will hold part of its power with me, and KOS-MOS..."

KOS-MOS looked to him at the sound of her name, and then turned her head away, in what appeared, almost, to be sadness, or even shame. "I am not Mary," she said. "I no longer have that power, to divide Anima."

"I know," chaos said softly, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But you do have a special power. You have the ability to channel the power from the Zohar. That means that only you are able to hold this power within your body, as you once held Mary's soul itself. This is much to ask of you, KOS-MOS."

"But wait!" Shion interrupted. "What will happn to KOS-MOS if she does something like that? You are essentially asking her to absorb the Zohar! To take all of those souls into herself!"

"There's no way we can let her do something that dangerous," Allen added. "KOS-MOS's consciousness might..."

"Shion, Allen," KOS-MOS said calmly, raising her hand to put an end to their outbursts. "Even if my consciousness were devoured in the process, it would be a small price to pay for the lasting balance of the universe."

"No!" Shion protested, and threw her arms around KOS-MOS, despite her palm held up to stop her. "I've just found you again, you can't leave me after all of this time, I won't let you!"

"Shion," KOS-MOS repeated, and tightened her arms around Shion as well. Her expression became surprisingly compassionate. "I promise that I will not, if it can be helped in any way."

"She won't die," chaos replied. "It is much to ask, because in this manner... KOS-MOS will become a living circuit between the UMN and the real world--her consciousness in the unconscious domain, and her body in the realm of real numbers. This responsibility will rest on her shoulders for the rest of eternity." He approached KOS-MOS and Shion as they withdrew from each other and looked sadly down at his hands, still covered in gloves.

"I can't bear to force this on you, KOS-MOS," he said gravely. "So I give you this option... We could return home now. We could return home, and allow the universe to continue for ten thousand years, and leave these people here to contend with the Zohar's power on their own. The collapse of the universe is inevitable in that case, however..."

"Excuse me," the Scientia captain interjected. "Just what the hell is going on? Can you explain this to me in English?"

"Long story, buddy," I laughed. It was good to see someone else who was confused for once.

"Look at it this way," chaos began to explain. "The universe... is like a computer, in a way. All of this data is recorded, memories... some become corrupt, and some will repair... as long as the corruption is repaired at a steady rate, the computer will continue to function normally. However, if the computer is unable to keep up with the strenuous load, it will inevitably cease to function. To prevent total failure, a reformat is in order... that is the power of Anima which I hold, to keep the universe from destroying itself by dispersing all memories. Mary's power of Animus was able to prevent that from taking place. However, without a 'reformat,' that computer will never be repaired and will eventually crash."

"So... by using the two Zohar plates to divide the Zohar's power as well as the souls that seek dispersal by coming into contact with it," I said, trying to follow along, "what you are saying is that the universe would be able to maintain itself without any need for a failsafe, without meeting its destruction?"

"Yes," chaos replied. "And only an artificial being like KOS-MOS, who was originally created to recall Mary's spirit from the UMN, has the power to make such a thing possible. Even a Realian would be unable to perfectly link with both realms at the same time."

"It is both my duty and my pleasure to be of service," KOS-MOS said firmly. "If you would accompany me, chaos, across this span of millennia. If you would accept my companionship, I do believe that I will be able to maintain for that amount of time, though I may continue to exist long after the natural life spans of Shion and the others."

"I want to go with you," Shion interrupted. "I want to be the one to be your companion on that journey, KOS-MOS! I want to help you shoulder that burden, if you have to--"

"Shion," KOS-MOS interrupted, and she smiled. "You are only human."

"I know, but--!"

"I am sure that we will meet again," she continued. "Worry not. You will stand again in my presence just as your brother does now. We will, in certainty, meet again and again."

chaos's face lightened at that thought. "KOS-MOS is right. All of our lives are tied to each other, and always will be, n this realm or the next. There is no reason to fear or regret." He raised his head and pulled his fists together confidently. "No reason for me, either. I will go with you, KOS-MOS. Of course I will. I'll always be here by your side."

"Hey, don't count the rest of us out!" I said loudly. "As long as my consciousness exists, you won't be getting rid of me!"

"I want to go on KOS-MOS's journey too," Allen said. "I won't ever give up on her, and I'll always be by your side, too, Shion."

"I don't understand the half of this," Shitan added, pushing up his glasses, "but I believe that what KOS-MOS says is true."

Shion smiled through the beginnings of tears at me, Allen, Shitan, and the others. "I know," she said. "I'm still scared of ever losing any of you again, but... in my heart, I know we have to walk across that thread. So, KOS-MOS... good luck."

"Thank you."

As KOS-MOS and chaos prepared for this procedure, Shitan and I backtracked and found Doctor Masuda. Thankfully, the man had come to, and was no longer suffering from any signs of a Gnosis encounter. The building itself had repaired somewhat. The Gnosis parts were normal again, but the disappeared areas were still gaping holes.

"What on Earth happened?" Dr. Masuda asked, as we led him back to the others. He didn't remember a thing. Shitan laughed, and began to explain everything bit by bit.

Ellen went and tended to her father, who had suffered a concussion, and nothing more. This was quickly remedied by Scientia's medial assistance. He seemed to realize his error, that reaching too close to the sun too quickly will only burn you in the end. Didn't Jin used to say something like that? Ha... well, he realized that his daughter could have died thanks to his ambitions, and with her forgiveness, I believe that they will be fine.

The captain, who insisted that I call him "Bart" for short, went on a long dialogue about how he had descended from Scientia's savior, that she handed important words and tasks down through his family for him to complete, and he was a real braggart about it, too. I didn't get any useful information out of that guy. Geez.

_You know... I'm not even going to try._

Fei, on the other hand, was helpful. He and Ellen exchanged information regarding the Zohar and what had happened the whole time. Shitan was happy to listen along with Dr. Masuda. All of them together... I'm sure that they are going to be okay.

Finally, chaos and KOS-MOS grasped hands, and stood before the Zohar. chaos held the two plates together. "Ready, KOS-MOS?" he asked.

"Yes," she said with a nod. "Let us commence."

"I have the strangest feeling of deja vu," Ellen said, as she and the others watched from afar.

"Ha... I was just about to say that," Fei answered.

"Dammit, you two are making me sick already," Bartholomew grumbled, but apparently, they didn't hear him.

I looked to Shion and Allen. They were both smiling. "Your girl has really grown up, hasn't she?" I teased them.

"More than you have," Shion laughed back at me, even though she was nervous about what was about to happen.

All of us grew silent and we waited patiently. chaos and KOS-MOS, together, began to resonate with a warm golden light. I watched them with no small amount of awe. KOS-MOS's hair began to glow, and the Zohar itself, took on a blue color. She broke her gentle grip on chaos's hand, and walked towards the monolith. She walked straight into the bottom of it, as if it were a curtain. Its surfaces rippled like a gel as she did so. chaos took a plate in either hand, and began to concentrate.

I could feel the anxiety, especially from Shion and Allen, as she disappeared from sight. Then the Zohar again began to radiate a pure, white, light that spread until it had consumed our field of vision entirely. Everything was sort of... greyish? Yes, kind of grey, for a moment there. I think, though I'm not sure, that I heard voices. Thousands of voices, millions, even. Only one in particular was loud and clear.

_"I knew you two would get through this somehow, together,"_ he said. _"Now go back, and take the time, finally, to enjoy what life really has to offer."_

"Gaignun," I sighed, with absolute certainty of this voice's identity. "Thanks for everything."

_Whatever, _Albedo murmured in my head._ I still hate you both._

Then I heard my brother laughing as he became farther away. It was something that I had rarely heard before, and never in such an honest tone.

After the bright light faded again, I felt as if eons had passed, somehow. I had to look around at my surroundings to see if I was still in the same place and time. Everyone else was doing the same thing, and I believe that we all were visited by someone we had lost.

I turned my head back to the Zohar, and found that it was still solid white, though it's brightness was not so much that it hurt my eyes, now. Slowly, it began to change, shrinking. It became smaller and smaller, and then its shape began to melt. It lost its rigid obelisk form, and became humanoid in appearance. It slowly changed into KOS-MOS's form.

Another flash washed over the Zohar facility, quickly this time, and then it was done. KOS-MOS stood before us, now fully mended and in all of her regalia. The plates of her armor were now bright gold, the color of the Zohar. Her eyes, opened, were still bright, crimson red. The color of KOS-MOS's true self.

"KOS-MOS!" Shion cried, and ran to embrace her again in relief. KOS-MOS accepted this with a smile. Everyone was elated to see her safe and sound. I couldn't help but laugh, myself.

I walked up to chaos, along with Allen, and gave them both a slap on the back. "Well, looks like it's finally over," I said, as we watched Shion continue to fawn over KOS-MOS, and KOS-MOS express emotions more and more.

"I think, rather," chaos said, "that it's just beginning. For the people here, and for us... for KOS-MOS."

Suddenly, Mary's loud voice was calling me from the Erde Red, which perched just outside, and looked in through the roof. "Little Master!" she said. "Just what the heck have you all been doin' in here?"

"Relax, Mary!" I said. "We're about to go home!"

"Well you hurry up, you better!" she scolded.

"Damn, she sure knows how to ruin the mood," I groaned, rubbing the back of my head, as if her nagging had struck a bruise into it.

Shitan heard my announcement, and approached our party, along with Ellen, Fei, Bart, and Doctor Masuda. "Is this it?" he asked me.

"I guess it is," I replied, and stuck out my hand. "We better blow outta here, before we cause some kinda time paradox."

Shitan smiled and shook my hand generously. "It was a pleasure making your acquaintance," he said. "chaos, Allen, KOS-MOS, Shion. All of you."

Shion looked up, and walked up to Shitan. She looked at him silently for a moment, considering. Then, abruptly, and much to his surprise, she pounced at Shitan, and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad... that I got to meet you..." She spoke in words broken by a sadness that Shitan did not understand. Then, she gathered her wits again, and let him go, embarrassedly.

"I'll never forget any of you," Shitan said warmly. "Now... go back. Go back to the loved ones you've left behind, and to that world which still needs your presence."

"We will stay here, and carve out a new path for humanity," Ellen said. "Along with the help of our new friends in the universe."

"I believe in all of you," Shion said, smiling.

"Here," chaos said, and held out one of the two Zohar plates to Fei. "Return this to your leader, whoever that may be. I'm sure that they will know what to do with it. I will take the other one back with us. Otherwise, well... there'd be three of them, wouldn't there?"

"Ha, yeah, I guess so," Fei answered. "Don't worry. It's safe with us."

"Take care of yourselves," Allen said.

"Perhaps we will meet again," KOS-MOS added. "I am destined to live a very long time, after all."

"See you then," Bart replied. "Good luck to you folks!"

"All aboard!" Captain Matthews announced through the speakers of the Elsa, as it lowered to pick us up. It lifted into the sky, leaving the people of the future behind. We rushed to the bridge so that we could wave goodbye as we lifted off.

"Wave to the people!" Shion said, holding Suou up high enough to see.

"Goodbye!" he shouted, and waved.

"Good luck, you guys," I said, as I waved. "A new chapter for humanity will start right here!"

We passed the Yggdrassil's long side as we headed out of the planet's atmosphere. It was a great ship, a beautiful feat of a culture much more technologically advanced than our own. Human beings who continued to exist thanks to you and the others had built it. Suddenly I wanted to know more about it, but I knew that it would be wrong to peek into the future. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise, you know?

_Surprise for those of us who can't draw obvious conclusions, you mean._

In the calm of relief and fulfillment, we quietly watched the horizon turn to a curve, and then slowly into a circle as we passed through the atmosphere and into space.

"The damage to the city looked pretty bad," I said, reminding myself of the down side. "Even from only a few hours of the attack, I bet a lot of places on the Earth are demolished."

"They'll be okay," Shion said reassuringly. "Now that Scientia's forces are here, this world will go through a huge revolution, I bet. But hey..."

"Huh?"

"That young man in the Scientia unit who saved Ellen," Shion said in an airy tone. "That was... that was Abel, I'm sure of it."

"Yes," chaos replied, with a knowing smile. "It would seem that U-DO was reincarnated in this realm in human form. Oblivious to his status as a god, he will learn exactly what it means to be human, to know himself and others. Nephilim is there so that his existence will never again be one of complete loneliness. Hand-in-hand, together they will weave a new future for humanity. At least, that's what I'd like to think."

"Well, good for U-DO," I laughed.

"But what if he does find out somehow?" Shion asked him. "And what are they going to lead humanity to?"

chaos shrugged. "That is up to Fei and Ellen, along with Shitan and the others. We have restored balance to the flow of the universe. Where humans will go from now on, only those humans can decide. It's entirely possible that they could fail, despite our efforts. But for us, the story is now over, and I want to believe that they can take it from here."

"Right," Shion agreed with a smile. "Let's go home."

"I agree," KOS-MOS stated. "Let us return to where we belong."

"Question," Hammer said, interrupting us from the navigation terminal. "Just how exactly do we _get_ home?"

"Yeah," Captain Matthews groaned. "Anybody think of that?"

At that time, the Professor and Assistant Scott decided to barrel into the bridge, wastefully energetic as they had been for some time now. "This area is no longer within imaginary space!" the Professor announced. "Whatever you did down there must have fixed i---WHOA! What happened to Assistant Number Three? She's all fixed! I didn't fix her! Who fixed her without my permission?!"

"The most accurate way to describe the situation," KOS-MOS replied, "Is to say that I fixed myself. Because I became as I envisioned myself."

"Self-actualization," Shion agreed. "I'm so very proud of you, KOS-MOS."

"Enough of this psychology stuff," I complained. "Professor! Can you get us back home now?"

"Of course!" he replied. "Going _backwards_ in time is an exceedingly simple matter!"

"Oh really?" I asked, completely unconvinced. The others mimicked my expression of disbelief for the most part.

"Come now, Number Six," he went on. "I taught you better than that, I know! All you have to do to go _backwards_ in time is go faster than the speed of light!"

"Oh, is that all?" Allen replied, sounding relieved at first, then the actual meaning hit him. "Wait--WHAT?"

"Using the force of gravity to slingshot around the sun helps too!" Assistant Scott added.

"How would _that_ help?" the Professor chided him. "You don't make any sense, Assistant Scott!"

"It does _too_ help," Scott insisted. "I saw it in a scientific documentary about Lost Jerusalem!"

"I think that was a movie," I groaned. "I think I _saw_ that movie."

"We just gotta kick her into overdrive!" Matthews said at the top of his lungs.

"You're just looking for any good reason to use that thing again, aren't you?" Shion said in frustration. "Look! Would we even _survive_ faster-than-light speeds?"

"Excuse me," Shelley interjected. "Someone is hailing us."

"Put it on," Matthews said. She did, and we were soon face to face once again with the one-eyed captain, Bartholomew.

"Hey guys," he said with a grin. "Looks like you were right about being from the past and all. Ha ha!"

"We _told_ you," I said in annoyance. "You're the one who didn't believe us!"

"Hey, don't sweat it!" he replied. "Look, I got ya' a parting gift to make up for it. You see, in the past 10,000 years, Scientia has developed the UMN way beyond your current comprehension of the network. We now travel across not only space through gates, but through time as well. We can even dive to meet the dearly departed if we need to."

"Are you serious?" I answered back, gaping. "The dead?"

"Well, humans definitely took a while to adjust to this, but they eventually got it. ... probably thanks to you guys! But don't worry about all of that. It's not for you to know. In fact, I've probably run my mouth too much already. I've talked to my supervisors, and they are going to clear a time jump for you. Just fly through the ring. You'll see it!"

"We are receiving an unknown gate signal," Shelley said. "Shall we go?"

"Sure," I said with a shrug. "We've got nothing to lose, do we?"

Bart saluted. "Goodbye then, Gaignun Kukai Jr.! It was an honor meeting your crew!"

With that he cut out on us. I scratched my head. "Uh... did you guys tell him my name? I sure didn't..." Shion and Allen shrugged at that, and chaos laughed just a little under his breath. I sighed. "Well, who cares? Let's get the hell out of here!"

"Tony!" Captain Matthews shouted in that same old style.

"I got it!" he replied, and grabbed the controls with fervor. "We're goin' home!"

A bright spinning circle outlined the path in gold. The Elsa, having completed its mission after seven long years, gracefully flew through it, and was consumed in the bright light of the future. It lit our faces and our hearts with hope. It was the path to our home, our own future.


	37. Come What May

**Chapter 37: Come What May**

We lingered on the field of flowers for quite a while, as the sun of this long-forgotten world rose higher into the sky. Our shadows were still long from the low angle of the sun, but it was getting much brighter.

"I guess... it's time to go home," I said, as Miyuki let me go. My head still hung so low that my chin nearly touched my neck, and I sniffed the last of my sobs. I had passed the urge to cry, but I could still feel the itch of it in my eyes.

Ziggy pat me on the shoulders comfortingly, and we turned for the Penelope. It was standing static in the storm of flower petals kicked up by a gust of cool wind. This place wouldn't be so bad, if it wasn't for the circumstances. I plucked a flower, and thought of pressing it, preserving the moment, somehow. Maybe I could grow a number of them back home. Then I let it go, and it flew in the air. A dull pain in my heart would be enough to remember today by.

The raindrops became lighter, and then the drizzle dried up. Beams of light began to break through the clouds overhead, creating a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors and lights in the misty morning.

We heard a beep. I didn't think much of it to begin with. Something in Miyuki's possession was always beeping for one reason or another, sometimes with complex musical tones. I turned to find her spinning around on her heels like a puppy trying to catch its tail, until she determined that the beep was coming from her connection gear clipped to the back of her waist and took it out.

"What is it?" Ziggy asked, as Miyuki flipped on the holographic image and her eyes opened wide.

"U-u-um," she started to say, waving her hands around excitedly. "It's a-it's a ship! A ship!"

Ziggy and I raised our eyes sharply to her as she began to key away furiously to find more information. "In orbit!" she said. "Entering the atmosphere currently!"

Where the clouds parted, a column of light poured down on us from the sky. We looked up, sensing somehow, I suppose, a presence there. A sparkle appeared, gliding along a straight path in the sky. It was tiny at first, wrapped in gold.

We watched in awestruck silence, necks craned upwards, as the small fleck of gold became turquoise and grew larger with each moment that passed.

"Is that...?" Miyuki gasped.

Ziggy was equally surprised. "It is..."

The shape of the blue ship ripped open so many memories and feelings that had been hidden deep inside and barricaded within me so that the passage of time would not destroy them. I knew it as if it were my true home, and yet it had the unfamiliarity of an object I had not laid eyes on in years. I became stuck there as if I were back in limbo, not sure whether I would run up and throw open on the door as soon as it landed, or remain frozen there in disbelief. I actually wondered, consciously, how long it was going to take me to believe this one.

We watched as the swan knight ship lowered to the ground in the field. It's landing feet settled down gently in the grass, at an angle to the Penelope. I held my breath tight in my chest as the hatch opened, and the boarding steps lowered into the grass.

I saw a pair of feet--not the same color as those unfinished ones we put her in the ground with, but so obviously KOS-MOS's. She reached the bottom of the stairs and walked a few steps into the field. Her brilliant blue hair flowed in the wind, more brilliant and lively than even in her encephalon projection. Her frame was completely repaired, and sparkling brilliantly--not with the suns light, but with something even more radiant. Her eyes were bright red, and to my utter amazement, she smiled.

"Mission complete," she called out across the length of the open space, and raised her arm, as if she hadn't caught our attention.

Miyuki laughed and ran towards her, her words came out in half-formed bursts as she jogged. "What did you--how did you--KOS-MOS, you crazy--!!"

Then Shion emerged, and Allen behind her, along with a small person who I had never met holding onto Allen's hand with tiny fingers. I was too dazed to put it all together in the moment, but it also may have been the natural feeling that they emitted as a family, it didn't surprise me enough to snap me back to reality.

"Good morning, everyone!" Shion greeted us, just a few seconds before Miyuki made impact.

"Shion-Shion-_Shion_!!" she shouted, and barreled Shion over. I was still staring blankly, as if these were ghosts I was seeing.

The next to descend from the ramp was chaos, who smiled at us in his mild-natured way. Finally my expression did lift from pure disbelief into joy. "You did it, you've really done it," I whispered, and then shouted aloud, "chaos, you are okay!"

"Yes I am," he replied. "And in fact, we--"

Before he finished his sentence, I heard someone shout "Outta the way!" and I could have sworn that it sounded like Albedo, or maybe more like Gaignun, but neither really. A tall red-haired man pushed chaos nearly off of the unloading platform as he ran out.

"Hey, watch out!" Shion shouted back at him as he almost knocked both her and Miyuki over at the bottom.

"MOMO!" he shouted, and I'm not even sure if he'd realized that he'd run into either of them.

He was you. You were there.

Suddenly I was flying, and I wasn't aware of just how. I don't think my feet were touching the ground at all, but my heart was overwhelmed with too much joy to be affected by even a universally binding force such as gravity.

"Jr.!" I cried, and though you were running towards me too, it was my velocity that sent us both tumbling to the ground. I realized what I had done only a few seconds after I had done it; and it surprised me, too.

Not as much as you, I guess. Uh... you weren't breathing when I looked, but just sputtering and gagging. "Can't... breath..."

"Geez, MOMO!" Miyuki laughed. "The poor guy gets back and you try to kill him, way to go!"

"Oh dear, I'm sorry!" I gasped, patting you on the back and feeling so awful about it. "Do you need some medicine?"

"I'm okay," you gurgled, as your breath came back. You coughed several times and started laughing. "I'm fine!"

Then a tight hug. I couldn't believe that you were here, and so the fact that I was in your arms was almost beyond perception, let alone comprehension. I saw that your shoulder was wide and angled as you thrust my chin over it in embrace. Your scent, you smelled the same. Kind of like chili and gunpowder, but not in a bad way.

We both stood to our feet again, and that's when I think it struck me. "Wow... You're _really_ tall," I said in disbelief, having to look upwards for the first time to see your eyes. They were not as large and round compared to the rest of your face, but there was still a certain child-like energy there; still the exact same color blue, and in the depths of them I could see a little more. Someone else looking back at me, just as youthfully excited and most likely bickering with you from the inside, but you weren't paying any attention to him.

I yelped a little as Shion proceeded to tackle me in turn, though she didn't quite send us to the ground. "And you're taller than me!" she laughed, and she seemed like she might cry, at the same time. The next thing I knew was that Mary was competing with Shion for hug-space, though I hadn't noticed her and Shelley come out.

"How ya been, honey?" Mary asked, while squeezing me just a little too hard. "Didja get our letters?"

"Please, Mary," Shelley scolded her cooly. "She can't speak with you assaulting her like that."

Finally she let me go. Ziggy joined us, and Shion hugged him around the waist. I watched her moving, and it was amazing to see. Her hair was longer, and her face was more matured. There was no wrinkle or sign of age to be found there though, except for the knowing eyes of a good mother. "Shion, I can't believe you're really here!" I laughed with her, and I nearly cried as well.

Ziggy smiled and reached his arm out to you. You grinned and initiated some secret code buddy handshake involving fists and claps and symbols that had everyone watching in amazement. At the end of it, you laughed so loudly that you had to grab your stomach. "You still got it, old man!"

Shion raised an eyebrow. "Did you guys plan that out?" she asked Ziggy.

"No, it's different every time," Ziggy said with a tired sort of sigh. "He makes it up, I just follow along."

"Haha," chaos laughed as he watched us. "MOMO, it seems like it's been so long... but I suppose I spoke to you only yesterday, from your perspective?"

I pranced over to chaos to give him his own due hug, while the meaning of what he was saying sunk in. "Uh... where exactly have you guys _been_?" I asked him, blinking.

chaos chuckled, and held up a silver plate, identical to the one I had just lodged in the dirt. "I guess I can give this back to you, now," he laughed. "Make sure to write detailed instructions, when you hand it down to future generations. I believe the young man who gave it to us might need them just as badly as Jr."

I wasn't sure I understood, but I took the plate back into my hands, then looked back to where you were standing. You and Ziggy were exchanging friendly pats on the back and laughing, yes... Ziggy was laughing, too. Miyuki hugged you as well, she was so excited, even though I don't even remember if the two of you had been introduced before.

"Hey, there's my girl!" I heard a gruff and familiar voice call out. Captain Matthews barreled down the exit from the Elsa, intent on giving me a big bear hug with those thick arms of his, but stopped, along with Hammer and Tony who followed him in jaw-dropping shock. "Y-you are MOMO, right?" he asked.

"Of course she's MOMO, you stupid goons!" you grumbled at him, as if his surprise would have insulted me. "What'd you think she was gonna be twelve forever?"

"Hey, I didn't ask you when you didn't grow, I didn't ask her when she didn't grow," he said with a shrug. "But damn! She sure as hell grew, didn't she?"

"I'll say," Tony added, staring right at the parts of me that had expanded the most. The captain turned and pushed both him and Hammer back several feet with one motion of his right arm. "I mean, you look well and healthy MOMO!" he corrected himself, shouting in monotone like a soldier reporting. "Pleasure to see you again, Ma'am!"

Next, and I assumed last, the professor and Scott came running out of the ship, along with a black dog. The dog seemed much more eager to see us than the two of them. They ran right past me, turned a corner, and stood staring, mouths agape, at the Penelope.

"Wah-whoaaaa what a beauty!" the Professor hooted, as if someone had just unfurled a posted of a model in a swimsuit.

"I-it's so beautiful" Scott said, almost in tears.

"You guys are _nuts_," Matthews groaned, and adjusted his ball cap. "Well! Lost Jerusalem, here we are! Let's take a break, eh? We deserve it!"

Alby yapped to celebrate that announcement, and began to prance around at your heels. The larger, black dog walked over, and Alby gave him a proper sniff. He yapped in approval, and both began to bounce around.

"I knew you guys would be friends!" you laughed, and sat down in the grass to rub Alby's tummy.

"Doggie!" the little boy who accompanied you said, and began to dance around with Alby and the very satisfied-looking labrador retriever.

"Hey, Suou!" Allen chuckled. "Why don't you say hi?"

"Suou?" I asked in disbelief. "That little boy is... is _yours_?"

"Sure is," Shion said with a grin. This set off a ticking time bomb in Miyuki's head.

"Oh my god, ha ha!" she exploded, at last. She continued to poke at Shion and Allen mercilessly, while I took interest in the boy himself.

I smiled broadly and walked over to the little green-eyed boy, and bent over with my hands on my knees to meet him. "Hello," she said. "I'm MOMO. I'm happy to meet you, Suou!"

Suou looked up distractedly from his play, not expecting to see anything interesting. But when he saw my face, his eyes widened and he jumped up in a giddy excitement. "You're the realium!" he shouted joyously. "I know who you are!" Then he seemed to realized something and pouted. "Hey... you're not little. I wanted to play with you!"

"Not anymore," I said. "I'm sorry. We will be sure to find you a friend very soon, though!"

He seemed relieved by that and began to tug at my sleeve. He shot suspicious look at you as I leaned over. Then he cupped his hand so that you, particularly, couldn't see or hear what he was saying, and whispered to me. "Uncle Jr. likes you, my mom _said_," he told me, putting a stress on the end of the sentence to insinuate that Shion's word was absolute. I blinked and flushed. This, you did notice.

"Hey, what are you whispering about?" you asked, giving Suou a suspicious glance as you walked over. "You better not be saying gross things to MOMO because she's a girl, I won't stand for that!"

Suou responded by sticking his tongue out and blowing it at you. "It is gross stuff, really gross stuff!"

You stuck your tongue right back at him. You're not a model adult, I have to say, but it was cute. I laughed as the argument between you continued. I began to see that Suou wasn't really your nephew in heart, but more your little brother (maybe that's why Albedo doesn't like him very much?). I think it's sweet, and I hope that maybe Shion would like to have me take care of him now and then.

"Hey Suou," Shion said, getting the boy's attention. "Did you meet Ziggy?"

"Ziggy?" he replied, forgetting all about your argument. Ziggy stepped forward, and Suou looked at up at him from head to toe in awe. "It's the robot-legs man!"

"Seems that you've heard of us," Ziggy replied, and smiled.

"Oh my god, he's so _cute_!" Miyuki squealed. "Aw Allen, you dog, you!" Then she punched Allen in the shoulder and he grunted because it hurt a lot more than she'd meant it to.

"Uh heh," Allen chuckled in discomfort. "Suou, this is Miyuki. She's a friend of ours."

"I can't believe you guys!" Miyuki went on, without stopping. "I mean we just put KOS-MOS in the ground, and--oh geez! That's right! KOS-MOS!"

"Yes?" KOS-MOS replied.

Miyuki blinked. "How the heck did you get out of the ground?"

"I am still in the ground," KOS-MOS stated, without moving her eyes at all or faltering.

Miyuki blinked again, looked at the spot where we had buried KOS-MOS, back at her, then back at the spot, several times before shaking her head like an animal that didn't want to be wet anymore. "You are blowing my mind!" she said. "But uh... I guess as long as your consciousness is in this one..."

"Maybe that's why we couldn't activate her," I laughed. "Does it really matter, though? She's here!"

Miyuki smirked and walked over and pushed me. "Geez, so optimistic now-- and you thought they'd never come back!"

I regained my balance as those words instilled a silence between us. I suddenly remembered how I'd felt, and I was ashamed. I looked slowly up at you. You were no longer smiling. "Did you really think that I wouldn't return?" you asked me.

"I got lost here, at the very end," I admitted. "I thought maybe that I wouldn't see you again, at least until we're all reunited..."

"But you kept trying to help us, even though you thought you might never be rewarded for it, that you would never see us again. You still pushed on, helping us."

I nodded. You made it sound as if I'd done some great heroic thing, but I felt that I'd failed you somehow. Because you had promised me, not in words that I could quote, but you did promise that you would be back someday; and I thought for a moment that you wouldn't be able to keep that promise, except for in the sense of cosmic unity. "I knew that we will never be disconnected, but to actually see you again, face to face... it's more wonderful than anything I could believe to be true."

I felt your hand touch my face, and raise my head up again. "I dunno if I believe it either," you said with a smile. "But it's happened. We've come home, and we're never going to be apart again. It's thanks to you never giving up on us."

I felt my face flush, and raised my hand to brush my bangs out of my face. You saw what I was wearing on my wrist, this old charm, and laughed. "Or maybe it was just dumb luck!" I laughed too, at the pure simplicity of that idea.

KOS-MOS cleared her throat. That was extremely odd since KOS-MOS's throat should never need clearing, and I was still not quite used to the idea that she would see it necessary to imitate clearing it.

"Oh, right!" you exclaimed, and began digging in your pocket. "I meant to give this back to you!" You held out the barrettes you had sent me. They sparkled in the sunlight. "KOS-MOS drained out all of the energy, she said, but they still look nice, don't they?"

"Of course," I giggled. "I love them very much. Thank you for bringing them back to me."

Then you said in agitated tone, "No, I'm _not_ going to do that, shut up!" and I raised an eyebrow curiously. "U-um!" you sputtered, and looked back at me apologetically. "Sorry! Uh... internal conflict."

"Is that Albedo speaking to you?" I asked, timidly.

"Yeah," you answered in a flat tone. "Uh... he says hi."

"He wrote me a very nice letter," I giggled meekly, and began to lean back and forth on my heels. You looked confused at that, as well you should've. I was a bit nervous to say this, but I think that I needed to. "I forgive you," I said, not to you, but to the other person who I could see in your eyes. "I know you won't accept it, but I am not scared of you anymore, not as long as you're with Jr. So... come out from time to time, I won't mind."

Shion witnessed this conversation, and with her sense of when you were and weren't having inner dialogues (which I soon learned to be eerily accurate and began to pick up from her for my own use), she looked at you and her eyebrow raised questioningly. "What's Albedo saying?" she asked.

"You don't wanna know," you replied. "You really don't."

* * *

Because Albedo had been telling me things about your figure even since I stepped out of the Elsa that I wouldn't want to repeat in front of anyone else, Suou especially. It's like my Id has a megaphone and it's blaring inside of my head twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week _ASS _this and _BREASTS _that and wait... why am I saying this out loud? I don't _mean to_, I mean _I'm sure I'm not_ winning any _points here_. _Oh crap. Can you hear me? ...MOMO?_

_Haha! YES. Control!_

_So sorry_, but I'm going to have to butt in right here. Oh, bwa ha! Don't look at me that way, Ma Pe-- _MOMO_. Yes, it's just MOMO. Excuse me, old habits die hard. I'm going to interrupt for the sake of summing things up clearly. You're too shy to tell him; not that I don't find that oh-so-adorable, but Rubedo is dense (not to mention, the same color) as a brick, so consider this a little reunion gift. Both of you missed most of what was going on, you were so preoccupied, anyway.

_Dammit Albedo, give me my body back, **right now!**_

Oh, relax, Rubedo! You're going to like this story, I promise. It's got a killer ending.

So, like you said, we arrived in the current time to find that you were already here, that you had come all of this way to find us. Not only that, but with an hour glass figure and in this Scientia harness fetish ensemble to boot. Let me tell you, Rubedo didn't fail to notice that!

_God damn you!_

HAHA. Well. Your merry band decided to have a lovely picnic or what Rubedo would probably call an "awesome party" right on the fields of Lost Jerusalem and organize our return flight. You said that it wouldn't take very long at all to install your new system on the Elsa, and we'd be back in a matter of days. See, Rubedo? You should have just waited a little while and-- hm, well I did enjoy our little trip into the future, looking back on it. I wonder what would have happened if we had never gone. The universe probably would have gone to Oblivion, and I've been there. Trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be.

_And you think **I** ramble on... geez._

Shion and Allen's curious child was instantly enamored with your robotic friend, the cyborg, and your _other_ dog as well. Uhg. That _dog. _What in the name of all things holy and unholy were you thinking when you adopted that ugly thing? And the way it trails alongside the black one as if it's in a pack, _uhg._

_Hey, you shut up! Alby is an awesome dog! He's smart and he's loyal, I mean... he recognized me right away after seven whole years! MOMO likes him, too. He's her favorite!_

Hmm... maybe it is suitably named, then.

_Hey-- W-wait! Dang._

In any case, that little creature of a boy rolled around with your pet dogs for quite some time, while Shion was explaining how she'd married Allen and everything else. I kind of zoned out here from the boredom, but it's not important. MOMO, you were so happy to see everyone, that smile on your face... more beautiful than tears even, I had never noticed.

_Probably because you were looking at her ass, you jerk._

Oh, who _wasn't_? So, you had your big touching conversation with MOMO, handing her back the gift that you gave her. I told you what you should do, but you didn't listen to me.

_Oh gee, who wouldn't take romantic advice from you of all people?_

I know what I'm talking about. You should have caressed her cheek very tenderly, and then places the pins back into her lovely hair. That would have been suave, Rubedo. But though you emulate "cool action heroes" to no end, you wouldn't know _charm_ if it bit you on the ass.

_You creep me out, talking about where I should touch people and stuff like that! At least I've never **violated** anyone! _

Ahem. This is all beside the point, my dear. Back to the story, then.

Rubedo's professor and that fool that follows him around were elated with MOMO's accomplishments and took to examining her craft right away. Those two clowns from the bridge were all over her like starving men on a rack of fresh meat (or just a nice rack, as the situation was), and you turned and kicked them both in the ass only seconds before the captain clobbered them both over the head. He was easily satisfied when, MOMO, to my surprise, pulled out a case of beer and a set of albums. I don't recall ever seeing Sir Captain so close to tears.

Nigredo's servant harpy wenches--I mean, the lovely ladies Mary and Shelley--had been humming a romantic chorus as the two of you ran towards each other in the field of flowers, and I laughed quite a bit, though neither of you noticed the clever little joke. They were extremely interested in your new appearance and your address book, as well. I'm sure if that Rubedo and I hadn't of shooed them away, you'd still be listening to Mary gab on and on and on to this moment.

After everything had settled, we decided that it was time to head home. The Elsa was overcrowded even more so than usual with the addition of chaos and KOS-MOS, so I suggested that we move on board the Penelope to allow for more space.

_I'm sure there was no ulterior motive behind **that** idea._

Just trying to help a brother out, Rubedo.

The Penelope, while not quite as large as the Elsa, has the loveliest little garden room, rather than a bar. So after the flight plans had been laid and the goodbyes said, the two of you--or should I say the three of us?

_Gaignun, why oh **why** did you do this to me, **why**?_

Yes, the three of us! --Retired to this little room filled with potted plants and flowers, and the little glowing bugs that MOMO enjoys the company of. The far wall was nothing but a large window looking out onto the road that laid behind us.

Your cyborg watch-dog graciously decided to go to the lab for maintenance that he didn't need, and Miyuki decided to put Suou down for the night even though it was much too early to do so. The little boy had been so excited about the new ship--which even on its own was like an entirely new world to him, who only knew of the Elsa--that there was no way he would ride the Elsa back home, and the girl (who needs to lay off the caffeine, I'd like to add) insisted on taking care of him so that Allen and Shion could obtain some "quality time," which we both know means they'll both be examining KOS-MOS diligently until they both pass out from exhaustion, though she obviously had a different form of physical exertion in mind.

_Hm? I'm not following you._

You wouldn't.

And so the two of you sat down together, maintaining an adorable and yet frustrating distance of five centimeters at all times. Rubedo, we're thirty-four years old. Stop acting like you're thirteen.

_You're one to talk! Stealing people's bodies? I'd say that's pretty immature!_

Haha! You fail at insults, now pipe down, cherry-head.

_Don't you tell me to pipe down! I'll--wait, what did you call me?_

"So how did it all happen?" MOMO asked you, with that cute coyness that you know we both eat up.

"What?" you replied, feigning innocence.

MOMO answered, "I mean, what have you been doing all of this time? How did you save the universe, and everything?"

"Oh, you know," you sighed, mocking humility, "It was no big deal. Wouldn't be the first time, right?" Then you managed to look at her, and some of your color showed through. I mean that both in the literal and metaphorical sense, by the way. If you're going to try and act all debonair, try not to blush. "I'm much more interested in what you've been doing," you said. "You've been rebuilding the whole universe! I've just been stuck in a ship for seven years, pretty much. Nothing exciting."

"How about a compromise?" she suggested with a soft laugh. "We can both take turns."

"All right," you answered. "That's a great idea. But you're going first."

"Oh, okay..."

Then you told each other your stories, and in the hours that passed, you learned to know each other, and how each of you had changed. How Rubedo finally became a man in most senses of the term, how he came to accept himself and your image in his memory. How you blossomed into this beautiful flower we see before us, remaining ever-loyal and constantly true to the people who she cared for, even as her childish idealism matured into true resolve, as she accepted the loss of us and still did her duty. As you were both rewarded for your hardships by this future you've been granted, back in the world where we belong.

Each of you felt that even despite these immense changes that occurred in each of you, that you still knew the person sitting next to you just as well as if they'd never been gone at all. You knew that even as you vowed to get to know each other all over again, from the beginning, that it wouldn't take long. All things have been renewed, all past hindrances swept away. Like an old story. "And they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was summer--warm, beautiful summer."

And then, Rubedo, you leaned over, and you kissed MOMO on her pretty, virgin, lips, which laid all of her doubts to rest; and though she blushed furiously and couldn't look at you in the eyes for nearly an hour afterwards to due to her bashfulness, it was the most wonderful experience of her recent years.

_What the heck are you talking about? I did not!_

No, but you're _about_ to, unless you're stupid. I'll even back out for a while, if you want! But there's no point in wasting another moment of your life. It'll happen now, or maybe tomorrow--because, _oh_... there is no way to be free from _love_;

_If you break into song, I **swear** I'll shoot myself in the head. _

Haha... well, to avoid that finality, I'll simply close in the most simplistic manner possible:

_The End._


End file.
